الحسن بن أبي عثمان

31. Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) told Husain bin Suwair, “O Husain! One who starts from his home with an intention of doing the Ziyarat of the grave of Imam Husain (a.s.) Allah would note a reward and wipe a sin for every step taken. If he is on a mount Allah would note down a reward and wipe a sin for every step of the mount till he reaches Kerbala. The Almighty Allah would include him among those who get salvation. And when he performs the deeds of Ziyarat Allah includes him among the successful. When he makes an intention to return, an angel would come and say, ‘The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has sent his salutations to you and has conveyed that your past sins are forgiven. Now you can have a new start in your deeds’.”

9. Abu Saeed Madaini visited Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) and asked him, “May I be sacrificed for you, should I go for the Ziyarat of Imam Husain (a.s.)?” He replied, “Yes, O Abu Saeed! Go for Ziyarat of the son of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) for he was the most virtuous among virtuous men, purest among pure and best among the doers of good deeds. If you do his Ziyarat Allah would grant you the reward of twenty-two Umrahs.”

“O Hafs! One from our Shias who dies without having a good knowledge of recitation of the Holy Quran, is taught the Holy Quran in grave so that Allah grants him great ranks. Know that the levels of Paradise are equal to the number of verses in the Holy Quran. A reciter of the Holy Quran is told over there, ‘Recite a verse of the Holy Quran and go to the next level’.”

“A man came to abu Dhar and asked, ‘O abu Dhar, why do we dislike death?’ He said, ‘It is because you have developed the world and destroyed the next life and you dislike moving from developed to that which is mined.’ The man asked, ‘How do you see our moving in the presence of Allah?’ He replied, ‘The people of good deeds among you will be like one coming home from a journey. The evil doers among you, however, will be like a runaway slave returned to his master.’ The man then asked, ‘How do you see our condition before Allah?’ He said, ‘Present your deeds before the book of Allah. Allah has said, ‘‘The virtuous ones will live in bounties and the evil doers will live in fire.” (82:14,15) The man than asked, ‘Where then is the mercy of Allah?’ He replied, ‘The mercy of Allah is very close to the people who do good deeds.’ “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) then said, ‘A man wrote to abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, “O abu Dhar instruct me with a few things of knowledge.” He wrote back to him, ‘Knowledge is of many kinds, however, if you are able not to disappoint those whom you love, then do so. Yes, your soul is the most beloved to you. When you disobey Allah, you are doing bad and disappointing things to your own soul.’”

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said to me: O Ḥusain! Allāh will register one good deed for those who leave their houses to go to the Ziyārah of the grave of Ḥusain ibn ‘Ali (a.s.) on foot and erase one bad deed from them with every step they take. When they arrive at the Ḥā`ir, Allāh will register them as those who have achieved salvation and as the successful ones. After they complete the rituals (of the Ziyārah), Allāh will register them as the winners. When they decide to return, an angel will come to them and say, “Verily the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.a.w.) sends his Salām to you and tells you that all of your previous sins have been forgiven. Therefore, continue with good deeds.”

I went to Abī ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) and asked, “May I sacrifice myself for you! Should I go to (the Ziyārah of) the grave of Ḥusain (a.s.)?” Imam (a.s.) replied: O Abā Sa’īd! Yes! Go to (the Ziyārah of) the grave of the son of the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.a.w.), the most blessed of the blessed ones, the most purified of the purified ones, and the most pious of the pious ones; for if you go to his Ziyārah, twenty-two ‘Umrah will be registered for you.

“O Harith! You should not act as my enemy, if you like me. You should not play with me; overtake me; tease me; belittle me; quarrel with me or act proudly with me if you like me.”

“Once we were in the presence of abu al-Hassan (a.s.), while in front of him there were certain pieces of dinars. He (the Imam) looked at one piece and picked it up and broke it into two pieces. He (the Imam) said to me, ‘Throw it in the trash so an adulterated thing is not purchased anymore.’”

“I asked abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.), ‘Did Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, know Himself before He created the creation?’” The Imam (a.s.) replied, “Yes, He knew Himself.” I further asked, “Did He see and hear His Own Self?” The Imam replied, “Allah did not need such things because He did not ask or demand it. He is His Own self and His Own self is He. His power is dominant and He does not need to name His Own self. He chose His Own name for the sake of others so they can call Him. Until one is not called by means of his names he is not recognized. The fist name He chose for His Own self was al-‘Ali al-‘Azim (the Most High, the Great) because He is above all things. It then means that Allah and His name al-‘Ali al-‘Azim is His. The Most High, He is above all things.

Whenever Ḥusain (a.s.) was mentioned in front of Abī ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) during the day, he would not be seen smiling until nightfall. Imam (a.s.) used to say, “Ḥusain (a.s.) is the tear of every believer!”

He said to me: O Abu `Imarah! Recite [an elegy] about al-Husayn b. `Ali (as). He said: So, I recited it and he wept. Then I recited [again] and he wept. He said: By Allah! I had not ceased to recite it and make him weep until I heard the lamentation from the house. He said: So, he said to me: O Abu `Imarah! Whoever recites about al-Husayn b. `Ali (as) and makes fifty people weep, for him is Paradise. And whoever recites poetry about al-Husayn and makes thirty people weep, for him is Paradise. And whoever recites about al-Husayn and makes twenty people weep, for him is Paradise. And whoever recites about al-Husayn and makes ten people weep, for him is Paradise. And whoever recites about al-Husayn and makes a single person weep, for him is Paradise. And whoever recites about al-Husayn and weeps, for him is Paradise. And whoever recites about al-Husayn and feigns crying, for him is Paradise.

Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) says that angels continuously move to and fro the grave of Imam Husain (a.s.) and all the seven heavens.

‘Allah (azwj) Created a star in the seventh orbit. So he (azwj) Created it from cold water and the rest of the six stars flowed from hot water, and it is the star of the Prophets (as), and the successors (asws) and it is the star of Amir-ul-Momineen (asws) commanding the exit from the world, and the ascetism in it, and commanding for the dust to be the mattress, and bricks to rest upon (for a pillow), and coarse clothing, and eating the tasteless (food), and Allah (azwj) has not Created a star more closer to Allah (azwj) the High, than it’.

Indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, chose from the lands, four, and so He, Exalted and Glorious is He, said: «And by the Fig, Olive, the Mountain of Seeneen and this Safe Land.» (95:1-3) The Fig is Medina, the Olive is Jerusalem, the Mountain of Seeneen is Kufa, and the Safe Land is Mecca.

I asked Abu’l-Hasan al-Rida, peace be upon him, about the noun: What is it? He said: It is an attribute to that which is attributed.

Abu’l-Hasan, the First, peace be upon him, said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: There should be no feast except in for five: ‘urs, khurs, ‘idhar, wikar or rikaz. As for ‘urs, it is marriage, khurs is postpartum after (having given birth to) a child and ‘idhar is circumcision. The wikar is the one who buys a house, and rikaz is when a man approaches from Mecca.

We heard Abā ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) say: When Ḥusain ibn ‘Ali (a.s.) died, everything Allāh has created cried over him except three things (places): Basra, Damascus, and the family of ‘Uthmān.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: The space between the grave of Ḥusain (a.s.) and the heavens is (always) filled with angels who are descending and ascending (back and forth from the Ziyārah).

I asked Abul Hassan Al-Ridha (s): ‘Did God know Himself before He created the Creation?’ The Imam (s) replied, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Did He see and hear Himself?’ The Imam (s) said, ‘He had no need for that, for He neither required anything of Himself nor soughtanything from Himself. He was Himself and Himself was He. His Power was All-Pervasive. Therefore, He has no need to name Himself. However, He has chosen Names for Himself for others to call Him by, for if He were not called by His Name, He would not have been known. The first that He chose for Himself was, ‘…He is the Highest, the Supreme (in glory).’ (i.e. God is Al ‘ali Al ’azim in Arabic) since He is Exalted above all things. His Meaning is Allah and His Name is Al ’Ali Al ’Azim since He is Exalted above everything.’”

The following seven people spoil their deeds.1- A wise highly knowledgeable man who doesn’t teach his knowledge to the people and is unknown to the extent that nobody mentions his name2- A wise man who entrusts his wealth to wicked liars who would not return it to him3- Those who trust mischievous and disloyal people4- Noble people who are not compassionate to others5- Mothers who do not protect the secrets of their offspring and divulge them6- Those who rush to blame their companions and brethren7- Those who continually quarrel with their colleagues and brethren.”