الحسن بن علي بن فضال

Instruct our Shi`a with the ziyara of al-Husayn, for surely his ziyara repels destruction and drowning and burning and being preyed upon by the predatory beasts. And his ziyara is made incumbent upon the one who confesses to the Imamate of al-Husayn as being from Allah.

Whomever exercises control over himself when he desires, when he is terrified, when he craves, when he is angry, and when he is pleased, Allah will forbid his body from the Fire.

I visited Umm Hamida to console her over [the death of] Aba `Abdillah al-Sadiq (as). She wept, and I wept due to her weeping. Then, she said: O Aba Muhammad! If you had seen Aba `Abdillah (as) at his death, you would have observed something astonishing. He opened his eyes and said: “Gather all of my relatives.” She said: We did not leave anyone except that they were gathered. She said: Then he looked at them and said: “Surely, our intercession does not reach one who takes prayers lightly.”

Allah said: When a servant obeys Me, I do not assign him to one other than Me. When a servant disobeys Me, I assign him to himself, then I do not care which valley he perishes in.

I said to the Messenger of Allah (s): Inform me of the number of Imams after you. So, he said: O `Ali! They are twelve. You are the first of them, and the Qa’im is the last of them.

`Ali b. al-Husayn b. `Ali b. Faddal informed us from his father. He said: I heard `Ali b. Musa al-Rida (as) say: Whoever seeks the forgiveness of Allah seventy times in Sha`ban, Allah will forgive his sins, even if they were similar in number to the stars.

Al-Rida (as) said: Whoever recalls our tragedy and weeps when he commits to us will be with us in our rank on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever recalls our tragedy, weeps, and makes others weep, his eye will not weep on the Day that the eyes will weep. Whoever partakes in a gathering in which our affair is revived, his heart will not die on the Day that the hearts will die.

When death attended to al-Hasan b. `Ali b. Abi Talib (as), he wept. It was said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Why do you weep when you have such a position with the Messenger of Allah (s); and after all that the Messenger of Allah (s) had said about you? You have performed Hajj twenty times on foot and given all your belongings to the needy three times! So, he said: I weep for two reasons: (1) The horror of resurrection, and (2) separation from my loved ones.

Al-Sadiq Abu `Abdillah Ja`far b. Muhammad (as) said: When al-Husayn b. `Ali (as) was struck with the sword, and they prepared to sever his head, a caller called from the direction of the Lord of Glory from the depth of the Throne, saying: “O Nation that has become perplexed and misguided after its Prophet! Allah will not allow you to find success in Adha nor in Fitr.” He said: Then, Abu `Abdillah (as) said: By Allah, they will never find support nor success until the Revolutionary of al-Husayn (as) rises.

Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman called for his son when he died, and he advised him, saying: O my son! Neglect that which is in the hands of the people, for in that is richness. Beware of demanding things from people, for that is manifest poverty. Be better today than you were yesterday. When you pray, pray in bidding farewell to this world as though you will not return to it. Beware of committing to that which you must back out of.

Surely, the first thing that Allah created to teach His creation writing was the alphabet. If a man is struck on the head with a staff, and it is thought that he cannot pronounce some words, then the ruling is that he is presented with the letters of the alphabet, and the culprit pays a fine for everything that he cannot pronounce. My father narrated to me from his father from his grandfather from Amir al-Mu’minin (as) regarding alif ba’ ta’ tha’ (the alphabet). He said: “A” is the signs (alaa’) of Allah. “B” is the delight (bahja) of Allah. “T” is the perfection (tamam) of the Order through the Qa’im of the Family of Muhammad (s). “Th” is the good deeds (thawab) of the believers for their righteous actions. “J” is the beauty (jamal) of Allah and the majesty (jalal) of Allah. The “Ḥ” is the forbearance (hilm) of Allah over the sinners. The “Kh” is the absence (khumul) of the people of sin in the remembrance of Allah. The “D” is the religion (din) of Allah. The “Dh” is the One of Majesty and Nobility (Dhul Jalali wal Ikram). The “R” is from the Kind, the Merciful (al-Ra’uf al-Rahim). The “Z” is the earthquakes (zalazil) of the Resurrection. The “S” is the splendour (sana’) of Allah. The “Sh” is that Allah wills (sha’) what He wishes and decrees what He decrees. You do not will unless Allah wills. The “Ṣ” is the truthful promise (sadiq al-wa`d) that the people will be carried over the Path (sirat) and the transgressors will be trapped at the lookout (mirsad). The “Ḍ” is: whoever turns away from Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad has gone astray (dal). The “Ṭ” is Tuba is for the believers “and a goodly reward” (13:29). The “Ṭh” is the good impression (thun) that believers have of Allah and the poor impression that the disbelievers have of Him. The “ʿA” is knowledge (`ilm). The “Gh” is the Needless (al-ghani). The “F” is a crowd (fawj) from the crowds of the Fire. The “Q” is that the responsibility of the collection and the recitation of the Quran is on Allah. “K” is the Sufficient (al-Kafi). “L” is the disbelievers’ slander (laghw) of Allah. The “M” is the mastery (mulk) of Allah on a Day where there is no mastery except His. Allah says, “To whom is the mastery [of all things] today?” (40:16) Then, the spirits of His prophets, His messengers, and His Proofs will say: “For Allah, the One, the Triumphant.” (40:16) So, Allah will say: “This Day, every soul will be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today! Surely, Allah is swift in account.” (40:17) The “N” is what the Allah will give (nawal) the believers and His torment (nakal) of the disbelievers. The “W” is woe (wayl) to one who disobeys Allah. The “H” the humiliation (han) that Allah will cause those who disobey Him. The “L” is one thousand la ilaha illallah, which is the saying of sincerity – there is no worshiper who says it sincerely except that Paradise becomes obligatory for him. The “Y” is the hand (yad) of Allah, which is above His creation, distributing sustenance – may He be glorified of those who associate partners with Him. Then, he (as) said: Surely, Allah revealed this Quran with these letters that all the Arabs use. Then, he said: “If mankind and the Jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Quran, they would not produce the like of it, even if they supported one another.” (17:88)

Whoever fasts the first day of Rajab in hope for Allah’s reward, Paradise will be made mandatory for him. Whoever fasts a day in the middle [of Rajab] will be able to intercede for the like of Rabi` and Mudar. Whoever fasts a day at the end [of Rajab], Allah will make him from the kings of Paradise; and he will intercede for his father, his mother, his son, his daughter, his brother, his sister, his paternal uncle, his paternal aunt, his maternal uncle, his maternal aunt, his acquaintances, and his neighbours, even if Hell was made mandatory for some of them.

The Messenger of Allah (s) said: Surely, the month of Ramadan is a great month. In it, Allah multiplies the good deeds, erases sins, and uplifts [one in] ranks. Whoever gives in charity in this month, Allah will forgive him. Whoever is good to his slave in it, Allah will forgive him. Whoever beautifies his character in it, Allah will forgive him. Whoever withholds his anger in it, Allah will forgive him. Whoever is merciful in it, Allah will forgive him. Then, he (as) said: Surely, this month of yours is not like the other months. When it comes to you, it comes with blessing and mercy, and when it leaves you, it leaves you with the forgiveness of sins. Good deeds are multiplied in this month. Good actions in it are accepted. Whoever prays two voluntary units for Allah in this month, Allah will forgive him. Then, he (as) said: Surely, the truly wretched one is he who leaves this month without his sins being forgiven. With that he will lose, whilst the righteous will win the rewards of the Generous Lord.

Whoever shuns striving for his needs on the day of `Ashura’, Allah will meet his needs of this world and the Hereafter. Whoever spends the day of `Ashura’ as a day of his adversity and his grief and his lamentation, Allah will make the Day of Resurrection as a day of his happiness and his delight, and his eye shall be cooled due to us in the Gardens. But, whoever calls the day of `Ashura’ as a day of blessing and stores anything in his lodging on it, whatever he has stored on that day will not be blessed; and on the Day of Resurrection, he will be gathered with Yazid, `Ubaydullah b. Ziyad, and `Umar b. Sa`d (la) in the lowermost of the lowest pit of the Fire.

I heard a man from the Ansar say: We were with the Messenger of Allah (s), shaded by the shade of a tree on an intensely hot day, when a man came, removed [some of] his clothes, and rolled in the scorching heat. He was on his back once, on his stomach once, and on his side once, saying: “O self! Taste this, for what is with Allah is greater than what you have done to yourself!” So, the Messenger of Allah (s) was looking at what he was doing. Then, the man put on his clothes and came forward. So, the Prophet (s) gestured to him with his hand and called to him. So, he said to him: O servant of Allah! I have seen you do something that I have not seen any one of the people do. So, what caused you to do what you did? So, the man said: My fear of Allah caused me to do this. I said to myself: “O self! Taste this, for what is with Allah is greater than what you have done to yourself!” So, the Prophet (s) said: You have feared your Lord as He is to be rightly feared. Your Lord is boasting about you to the people of heaven. Then, he said to his companions: O you who are present! Come closer to your companion so that he may pray for you. So, they came closer to him, and he prayed for them, saying: O Allah! Gather our affairs upon guidance, increase us in God-consciousness and make Paradise our home.

I heard Aba’l Hasan `Ali b. Musa al-Rida (as) say: Surely, I will be killed, poisoned, and buried in a strange land. I know that due to a covenant that was given to me by my father from his father from his forefathers from the Messenger of Allah (s). Surely, he who visits me in my isolation shall have the intercession of my forefathers and I on the Day of Resurrection. He who has our intercession will be saved, even if his sins are like that of the two heavyweights (humanity and the Jinn).

The Messenger of Allah (s) said: Sha`ban is my month, and Ramadan is the month of Allah. Whoever fasts a day in my month, I will intercede for him on the Day of Resurrection. He who fasts the month of Ramadan shall be delivered from the Fire.

The Messenger of Allah (s) laughed one day until his molar teeth could be seen. Then, he said: Will you not ask me why I laughed? They said: Of course, O Messenger of Allah. He said: I am astonished at the affair of the Muslim person: there is nothing that Allah decides for him except that it is good for him in the end of his affair.

I heard Aba Ja`far Muhammad b. `Ali al-Baqir (as) say: A man entered a mosque wherein which was the Messenger of Allah (s) and lightened (hastened) his prostration in a way that was unbefitting for a prostration. So, the Messenger of Allah (s) said: He pecked like the pecking of a crow. If he dies upon this, then he dies upon a religion other than the religion of Muhammad.

The worst of worshipers is a worshiper with two faces and two tongues. He commends his brother when he is around, and he consumes him [in gossip] when he is absent. When he is given, he envies, and when he suffers, he lets him down.