علي بن الحسين زين العابدين

Salman al-Farisi (rh) said: One day, I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (s) when `Ali b. Abi Talib (as) came forward. So, he said to him: O `Ali! Shall I not give you glad tidings? He said: Of course, O Messenger of Allah. He said: My beloved Gabriel informs me from Allah that He has given your lovers and your Shi`a seven characteristics: gentleness at death, harmony in the solitude [of the grave], light in the darkness [of the grave], security at the shock [of the Resurrection], rightly justice at the Scale, a permit on the Path, and entry into Paradise eighty years before the rest of the people of the nations.

Imam Sajjad (a.s) said: “I will not be afraid of being alone if all the people from the East to the West die as long as I am with the Quran. When he read the verse: “Master of the Day of Judgment” [The Holy Quran: Fatiha 1:4], he would repeat it many times and he would nearly die from fear.”

O son of Allah’s Messenger, then what is the meaning of an Infallible? He said: It is he who adheres to the Rope of Allah, and the Rope of Allah is the Qur’an; they do not separate until the Day of Resurrection. The Imam guides to the Qur’an, and the Qur’an guides to the Imam. That is the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Indeed, this Qur’an guides to that which is more upright.» (17:9)

“One who recites Surah Mumtahena in his obligatory and recommended prayer, Allah examines his heart for belief, and brightens his sight and he is never ever afflicted with poverty, insanity in himself or his children.”

O Messenger of Allah, is it the Tawrat? He said: No. They said: Then is it the Injeel? He said: No. They said: Then is it the Qur’an? He said: No. He said: Then the Commander of the Believers, Ali, peace be upon him, approached and the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: It is him. Indeed, he is the Imam in whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, enumerated the knowledge of everything.

A Jewish person came to the Prophet (SA) while the Commander of the Faithful `Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) was with him and asked: “What is the meaning of the letters of the alphabet? Thus, the Messenger of Allah (SA) said to `Ali (AS), “Answer him, and prayed: `O Allah, grant him success and show him the right way.” Therefore, Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) explained, “There is not a letter of the alphabet that does not stand for a name of Allah, the Mighty and High.” He then added, The letter * [alif] “a” stand for “Allah, besides whom there is no god, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting;” The letter * [ba] “b” stands for “the Ever-Remaining even after the end of the creation;” The letter * [ta] “t” stands for “the Oft-Returning (in mercy) who accepts the repentance from His Servants;” The letter * [tha] “th” stands for “the Firm Creator,” Allah confirms those who believe with the sure word in this world’s life. The letter * [jim] “j” stands for “high is His praise, and sacred are His Names;” The letter * [ha] “h” stands for “the Truth [haqq], the Ever-Living [hai], and he Forbearing [halim];” The letter * [kha] “kh” stands for “the All-Informed of what the servants to;” The letter * [dal] “d” stands for “the Rewarder of the Day of Judgment.” And the letter * [dhal] “dh” stands for “the Lord of glory and Honor” [dhul jalal wa-alikram]. The letter * [ra] “r” stands for “the Affectionate towards His Servants;” And the letter * [za] “z” stands for “the Beauty of the worshipped.” The letter * [sin] “s” stands for “the All-Hearing and All-Seeing;” The letter * [shin] “sh” stands for “the Thankful to His Believing Servants;” The letter * [sad] “s” stands for “the Most Truthful in His Promise [wa`d] and threat [wa`id];” And the letter * [dhad] “d” stands for “the Punisher [dar] and the Beneficial.” The letter * [ta] “t” stands for “the Pune [Tahir] and the One who Purifies;” The letter * [za] “z” stands for “the Manifested and the One that Manifests His Signs;” The letter * [`ayn] “`” stands for “the All-Knowing of His Servants;” And the letter * [ghayn] “gh” stands for “the Aid of all those from His Creation who seek help.” The letter * [fa] “f” stands for “the Splitter of the seeds and fruit kernels;” The letter * [qaf] “q” stands for “the All-Powerful over all of His Creation;” The letter * [kaf] “k” stands for “the Sufficient who there is non like unto Him and He begets not, nor is He begotten;” The letter * [lam] “l” stand for “the Kind over His servants;” The letter * [mim] “m” stands for “the Master of sovereignty;” The letter * [nun] “n” stands for “the light of heavens from the Light of His Throne;” The letter * [wa’u] “w” stands for “the One [Wahid], the Uique and the Needless, who begets not, nor is He begotten;” The letter * [ha] “h” stands for “the guide for His Creation;” The letter * [la] “la” stands for “there is no god but Allah;” And finally the letter * [ya] stands for `Allah’s Hand which Extends over all His Creatures.” Then the Messenger of Allah (SA) responded, “Allah, the Mighty and High, is pleased with this answer.” Consequently, the Jewish man accepted Islam.

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Whoever reads four verses from the beginning of Chapter 2 of the Holy Quran, verse 255- 257 and three verses from the end of this Chapter, he will not experience anything in his own self or property that he dislikes, Satan will not approach him and he will not forget the Holy Quran.’”

The Messenger of Allah (s) said: Whoever recites ten verses a night will not be recorded among the heedless. Whoever recites fifty verses will be recorded among those who remember (al-dhakirin). Whoever recites one hundred verses will be recorded among the submitters. Whoever recites two hundred verses will be recorded among the devout. Whoever recites three hundred verses will be recorded among the winners. Whoever recites five hundred verses will be recorded among the strivers. Whoever recites one thousand verses will be assigned a quantity of wealth equal to fifty thousand gold weights; each weight is twenty-four carats – the smallest of which is the size of Mount Uhud, and the largest of which is like that which is between heaven and Earth.

the Commander of the Faithful (s) was questioned about the meaning of what God’s Prophet (s) said, “I will leave behind two heavy things with you: God’s Book and my ‘Itra.” He (s) was asked, “What does “my ‘Itra” mean?” He (s) replied, “It is I, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein and the other nine Divine Leaders from the descendants of Al-Hussein. The ninth of them is their Al-Mahdi (Divinely Guided One) who is their Riser. They will not separate themselves from God’s Book and God’s Book will not separate from them until they meet God’s Prophet (s) at his Pool.”

1. Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s.) narrates that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, “One who recites the first four verses of Surah Baqarah, Ayatal Kursi and two verses which follow it and the last three verses of this Surah he and his wealth would remain safe from all calamities. Satan would not come near him and he will never forget the Holy Quran.”

“If one listens to the reading of one letter from the book of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, without reading, Allah writes for him the reward for one good deed, deletes one of his evil deeds and raises for him one degree. If one reads looking but without audible voice Allah writes for him the reward for one good deed for each letter, deletes one of his evil deeds and raises him one degree. If one learns one clear letter Allah writes for him the reward for ten good deeds, deletes his ten evil deeds and raises him ten degrees. The Imam said, ‘I do not say, ‘for every verse.’ I say for every letter. ‘B’, ‘T’ and so forth are letters.’ The Imam said, ‘If one reads one clear letter in prayer in a sitting position Allah writes for him the reward for fifty good deeds, deletes fifty of his evil deeds and raises for him fifty degrees. If one reads one letter in prayer standing, Allah, for each letter, writes for him the reward for one hundred good deeds, deletes one hundred of his evil deeds and raises him one hundred degrees. If one completes reading the Quran, for him there is an accepted prayer, sooner or later.’ “I (the narrator) then said to the Imam, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, is it completing the whole of it’? The Imam said, ‘Yes, it is completing the whole of the Quran.’”

Indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, hid four in four: He hid His satisfaction in obedience to Him, so verily, do not belittle anything from His obedience, for perhaps it may accord with His satisfaction while you do not know; He hid His anger in disobedience to Him, so verily, do not belittle anything from His disobedience, for perhaps it may accord with His anger while you do not know; He hid His response in praying to Him, so verily, do not belittle anything from His prayer, for perhaps it may accord with His response while you do not know; and He hid His Ally among His servants, so verily, do not belittle any servant among the servants of Allah, for perhaps he may be His Ally while you do not know.

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: Indeed, I am appointing as successors among you Two Weighty Things: the Book of Allah; and my Family, my Household. Indeed, they will never be separated until they approach me at the basin like these two – and he joined between his two index fingers. Then Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari stood up to him and said: O Messenger of Allah, and who is your Family? He said: Ali, Hasan, Hussain and the Imams from the sons of Hussain, till they Day of Resurrection.

“In the Name of God,Most Gracious, Most Merciful: Ta, Sin, Mim. These are Verses of the Book that makes (things) clear. We rehearse to thee some of the story of Moses and Pharaoh in Truth, for people who believe. Truly Pharaoh elated himself in the land and broke up its people into sections, depressing a small group among them: their sons he slew, but he kept alive their females, for he was indeed a maker of mischief. And We wished to be gracious to those who were being depressed in the land, to make them leaders (in faith) and make them heirs. [The Holy Quran: Qasas 28:1-5] At this point Imam Sajjad (a.s) asked him to stop, and said: “I swear by God who has established Muhammad to admonish the people and to give them glad tidings that the good people among us are members of the Holy Household and their Shiites are similar to Moses and his followers. And our enemies and their followers are similar to Pharaoh and his followers.”