العباس بن معروف

I heard Abu Abdullah (as), say that he instructed for mourning to be held for Him (as) for seven seasons (mawasim), and He (as) allocated money for each season to be spent for that purpose.

I said to Abi `Abdillah (as): The saying of the Messenger of Allah that “Fatima is the Mistress of the Women of the People of Paradise” – was she [only] the Mistress of the Women of her world? He said: That is Maryam. Fatima is the Mistress of the Women of the People of Paradise from the former and the latter peoples. So, I said: So, the saying of the Messenger of Allah (s) that “al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the two Masters of the Youth of Paradise”? He said: They are, by Allah, the two Masters of the Youth of Paradise from the former and the latter peoples.

I wrote to Abi Ja`far Muhammad b. `Ali b. Musa al-Rida (as): May I be your sacrifice! I pray behind one who claims the doctrine of the body and takes the doctrine of Yunus b. `Abd al-Rahman. So, he (as) wrote: Do not pray behind them, and do not give them zakat. I dissociate from them, and Allah dissociates from them.

Abu `Abdillah al-Sadiq (as) said: The foundations of disbelief are three: greed, arrogance, and envy. As for greed, when Adam (as) was prohibited from the tree, greed caused him to eat from it. As for arrogance, when Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam, he was arrogant. As for envy, one of Adam's sons killed the other due to envy.

“Abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that if one dies in the beginning of the day, he cannot have a nap anywhere other than his grave.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah has said, ‘You must not keep a crucified person on (the woods) for more than three days, after which the deceased must be brought down and buried.’”

"I wrote to Abu Ja'far al-Baqir (as) or I told him, 'May God make me your sacrifice, we worship the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, the One, the Unique, the Eternal.' He said, 'Indeed, whoever worships the name without the Named has associated partners (with God), disbelieved, and denied. He has not worshipped anything. Rather, worship God, the One, the Unique, the Eternal, who is named by these names, not by the names themselves. The names are attributes, and He has described Himself with them.'"

The Messenger of Allah (SA) said: Marry virgins! Verily, they are the purest in speech, the best in morals, and the most fertile. Have you not come to know that on the Day of Judgment, I would be proud of you over other nations, eve for a miscarriage? The child who died during the birth will reach the Gate of Paradise covered in camphor. Allah, the Mighty and High, will say to it: “Enter Paradise!” It will reply: “No, not until my parents have entered.” Allah, the Mighty and High, will say to an angel: “Bring Me his parents.” The child will then be sent to Paradise in the company of his parents. Thus, Allah will say: “This is due to My Mercy upon you.”

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said, in answer to a question, ’How was Friday called Friday?’ The Imam said, ’Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, brought His creatures under the Divine Authority of Muhammad (a.s.), and the Executor of his will during “the divine Covenant session”, and that session was called “al-Jumu‘ah” (the assembly) because of His calling His creatures together.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, disliked slaughtering (animals) and spilling blood on Fridays before Salat (prayer) except in the case of an emergency.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin prohibited a man’s fishing on Fridays before Salat (prayer). He (a.s.), would go to the fish market on Fridays and prohibit them from fishing on Fridays before Friday Salat (prayer).”’

Sleep is the relaxation of the body, speech is the relaxation of the soul, and silence is the relaxation of the intellect.

I said to Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him: May I be sacrificed for you, what is the meaning of the saying of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family: «Indeed, Fatima shielded her private organ, to which Allah forbade her offspring from the Fire»? So he said: Those who are freed from the Fire are the children from her belly: Hasan, Hussain, Zainab and Umm Kulthum.

“I heard Ali (MGB) tell Abil Tufayl Amer ibn Vasele’ al-Kanani: ‘O Abil Tufayl! There are two forms of knowledge: The knowledge over which people must ponder, and that is the knowledge of the religion, and the knowledge which cannot be pondered over, that is the Might of the Honorable the Exalted God.’”

If the Honorable the Exalted God becomes angry with a nation and doesn’t destroy them, He will bring about inflation; shorten their lives; bring loss to their trade; reduce the amount of fruit grown on their trees; reduce the amount of water flowing in their streams; withhold rain from them; and the wicked ones will overcome them.”

Indeed our followers are those who sacrifice their lives for loving us; become friends with each other due to loving us; visit each other to revive our traditions; do not oppress anyone if they get angry; do not go beyond bounds if they like some thing; do not waste; are blessings for their neighbors; and are a source of peace and comfort for those with whom they associate.”I have explained this in more detail in Sifat ul-Shia.

“The most pious person is one who stops when in doubt. The best worshipping person is one who performs the obligatory deeds. The most ascetic person is one who abandons the forbidden, and the most hard-working person is one who abandons sinning.”

When a person reaches the age of forty, Allah keeps him safe from three diseases like insanity, leprosy and white spots. When he reaches the age of fifty, Allah curtails his accounting. When he reaches the age of sixty, Allah makes him return to Himself. When he reaches the age of seventy, the people of heavens start loving him. When he reaches the age of eighty, Allah orders that his good deeds be written down and sins not be written. When he reaches the age of ninety, Allah, the Mighty and Sublime forgives his past and present sins and writes him as a prisoner of Allah on His earth.”

“The first of the three in whose name the first lot was cast is Mary, the daughter of Imran, as we read in the following words of the Honorable the Exalted God, ‘Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary…’ There were six arrows in this casting. Then it is the lots cast for Jonah (AS) when he was riding the ship with the people and the ship stopped in the tumult. They cast lots for Jonah three times. Then Jonah went to the front of the ship. Suddenly a large whale opened his mouth and Jonah jumped into his mouth.
The next case is regarding Abdul Muttalib to whom God had granted nine sons. Abdul Muttalib made a vow that he would offer one of them for sacrifice to God if he was granted another son. When the number of his sons became ten with the birth of Abdullah - the father of God’s Prophet Muhammad (sw) - it was hard for Abdul Muttalib to offer Abdullah as a sacrifice. Then he brought ten camels and cast lots for either them or Abdullah. The lot fell to Abdullah’s name. He increased the number of the camels to be offered ten by ten and repeated the casting of lots. However, every time the lot fell to Abdullah’s name.
When the number of camels he offered reached one-hundred, the lot fell in the name of the camels. Abdul Muttalib said, ‘O My Lord! No. It would not be fair to suffice for this. I must draw lots three more times.’ He drew lots three more times. The lot fell to the name of the camels all three times. At this time Abdul Muttalib said, ‘Now I know that my Lord is pleased with this.” And he had their throats cut.

I once traveled with Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s) [from Medina] and when we reached the Rauha station, Imam (a.s) looked at the huge mountain over there for some time and asked: “Can you see this mountain? It is called Mt. Razva and it a mountain of Fars. When it expressed excessive love for us, Ahle Bayt (a.s), the Almighty Allah transferred it to us. See, every tree growing upon is fruitful and he said twice: It will be a refuge to one who is in fear. Know that the master of this affair will have two occultations: one is a shorter occultation (Ghaibat Sughra) and the other, a longer occultation (Ghaibat Kubra).”