8-6 Tamim ibn Abdullah ibn Tamim al-Qurashi - may God be pleased with him - narrated that his father quoted on the authority of Ahmad ibn Ali Al-Ansari, on the authority of Soleiman ibn Ja’far al-Basri, on the authority of Umar ibn Waqid, “When Harun Ar-Rashid got worried about the noble characteristics of Musa ibn Ja’far (s) and the news he received from the followers of Imam Musa ibn Ja’far (s) regarding his Divine Leadership, and their secret associations with him in the daytime and at night, he feared for himself and his rule. Then he thought of killing him with poison. Then he asked for some dates and ate some. Then he placed twenty dates on a tray, dipped a piece of thread in poison, and placed the date on a needle. He then thoroughly poisoned one of the dates with that thread until he was sure that the
poison has penetrated it. He did this several times and then placed the date among the other dates. He called in his servant and told him, “Take this tray of dates to Musa ibn Ja’far and tell him, “The Commander of the Faithful has eaten dates, and has left some for you. Please I beg you to eat them all since I have hand picked them for you myself.” He told the servant to make sure that no dates were left and that no one else should eat any of the dates. The servant delivered the dates and the message. The Imam (s) said, “Bring me some toothpicks.” The servant brought him toothpicks and stood infront of him while the Imam (s) ate dates. Harun Ar-Rashid had a female dog which was very dear to him. The dog exerted an effort to free itself from the golden chains and jewels and went to Musa ibn Ja’far (s). The Imam (s) put the poisoned date on the toothpick and threw it for the dog. The dog ate the date and immediately fell down on the ground and died while his meat was falling off his bones piece by piece. The Imam (s) ate the rest of the dates. The servant took the tray back to Ar-Rashid. Harun asked him, “Did he eat all the dates?” The servant said, “O Commander of the Faithful (Harun)! Yes.” Harun asked, “How did you find him?” The servant said, “O Commander of the Faithful! I saw nothing wrong with him.”The narrator of the tradition added, “Then the news of the female dog and how it had fallen down with its meat being separated from its bones piece by piece and its death reached Harun. This was hard on him. He went to see the dog. He saw how the dog’s meat had separated from its bones and died. He called in the servant, asked for a sword and a rug. He told the servant, “Tell me the truth about the dates or I will kill you.” The servant said, “O Commander of the Faithful! I delivered the dates to Musa ibn Ja’far and delivered your greetings to him and stood right in front of him. He asked me for a toothpick. I brought him one. He put the toothpick into the dates and ate them one by one. Then the dog came there. He placed the tooth pick in one of the dates and threw it for the dog. The dog ate it. He continued eating the rest of the dates. O Commander of the Faithful! Then what you see happened.” Harun Ar-Rashid said, “We did not gain any benefits from Musa. We fed him the best of our dates, wasted our poison and got our dog killed. There is no solution for Musa ibn Ja’far.”The narrator of the tradition added, “Then our Master Musa (s) called in Mosayyab three days before his death. Mosayyab was his prison guard. The Imam (s) said, “O Mosayyab!” He said, “Yes. My Master!” The Imam (s) said, “I will be going to Medina, the town of my grandfather, i.e. God’s Prophet (s) in order to instruct my son Ali Al-Ridha (s) according to what my father had instructed me to do, and establish him as my Trustee and Successor, and deliver my orders to him.” Mosayyab said, “O my Master! How do you order me to open the doors for you while there are also other prison guards with me?” The Imam (s) said, “O Mosayyab! Your belief in the Honorable the Exalted God regarding us isweak.” He said, “No, my Master!” The Imam (s) said, “Then wait.” He said, “O my Master! Please pray for me to get more firmly established in faith.” Then the Imam (s) said, “I invoke the Honorable the Exalted God by His Great Name - by which Asif had invoked Him, and magically brought Belqees’ (queen of Saba’) Couch there and placed it in front of Solomon before the wink of an eye - to bring me (Al-Kadhim (s) and my son Ali Al-Ridha (s) together in Medina.” Mosayyab added, “Then I heard Al-Kadhim (s) pray and suddenly he (s) was no longer where he was standing to pray. As I was standing there, I saw him (s) reappear there again, and tie the chains to his own feet. At that time I fell in prostration to God to thank Him for this Divine Knowledge, i.e. the recognition of the Divine Leader (s). Imam Al-Kadhim (s) told me, “O Mosayyab! Raise your head. Beware that I will depart to the Honorable the Exalted God three days from now.” Mosayyab added, “Then I cried.” He (s) told me, “O Mosayyab! Do not cry. My son Ali (Al-Ridha (s) is your Divine Leader, and your next Master! Therefore, adhere to his Mastery since you will never be at a loss as long as you are with him (s).” I said, “Praise be to God.”Mosayyab added, “Then my Master Al-Kadhim (s) called me in on the night of the third day and told me, ‘It is time for me to go to the Honorable the Exalted God. When I ask you for water and drink it, you will see that my stomach gets bloated and swollen. My color will turn yellow, red and green. It will turn into different colors. Then inform that oppressor (Harun) about my death. When you see me that way do not inform anyone else. Also do not tell the one who will come to me until after I die.’”Mosayyab ibn Zohayr said, “I was constantly watching Al-Kadhim (s) until he (s) called me and asked for some water and drank it.” Then he (s) called me and said, “O Mosayyab! This wicked As-Sindi ibn Shahak thinks that after I pass away, he will take charge of performing the ritual ablutions for me himself. No. This will never be the case. When they take me to the cemetery known as the Quraysh cemetery, bury me there. Do not raise my tomb higher than four opened fingers. And do not take any of the dirt from my tomb to be blessed by, since the dirt from the tombs of all of us is forbidden except for that of my grandfather - Al-Hussein ibn Ali (s) which the Sublime God has established as a means of healing for our followers and friends.Mosayyab added, “Then I saw someone who looked very much like him sitting next to him. I had seen my Master Al-Ridha (s) when he was young. I wanted to ask him questions but my Master Musa (s) asked me, ‘O Mosayyab! Did I not admonish you before?’ I kept waiting until he (s) perished, and that person disappeared. Then I informed Harun Ar-Rashid. As-Sindi ibn Shahak came. I swear by God that I saw them with my own eyes that they thought they were performing the major ritual ablutions for the dead, but their hands could not reach him. They thought they were placing the embalmment on him and shrouding him, but they could not do anything for him. It was that person who was placing the embalmment on him and shrouding him. They could see him, but could not tell who he was. They pretended that he was just helping them. When that person got finished he told me, “If you had any doubts about me, be no longer in doubt. I am your Divine Leader, your Master, and God’s Proof for you after my father (s). O Mosayyab! The similitude of me is like that of the honest Joseph (s). Their similitude is like that of Joseph’s (s) brothers who came to him. Joseph (s) knew them but they could not recognize him.”Then they carried him (s) and buried him in the cemetery of the Quraysh, and did not raise his tomb more than he had ordered it to be raised. The tomb was raised later, and a building was constructed over it.