محمد بن ابي الصهبان

Everything in this book that is narrated from Khalid ibn Maad Al-Qalansi has been transmitted by me from my father - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from Abdullah ibn Ja'far Al-Himyari, from Muhammad ibn Abdul Jabbar, from Al-Nadr ibn Shu'ayb, from Khalid ibn Maad Al-Qalansi.

Everything in this book that is narrated from Ibrahim ibn Abi Yahya Al-Mada'ini has been transmitted by me from Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan Al-Saffar, from Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Jabbar, from Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Faddal, from Zharif ibn Nasih, from Ibrahim ibn Abi Yahya Al-Mada'ini.

And whatever is narrated from Mansur Al-Sayqal, I have narrated it from my father - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from Sad bin Abdullah, from Muhammad bin Abd Al-Jabbar, from Abu Muhammad Al-Dhahili, from Ibrahim bin Khalid Al-Attar, from Muhammad bin Mansur Al-Sayqal, from his father Mansur Al-Sayqal.

And whatever is narrated from Aṭaʾ ibn Al-Saʾib, I have narrated it from Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Idris - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from his father, from Muhammad ibn Abi Al-Ṣuhban, from Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Ziyad Al-Azdi, from Aban Al-Ahmar, from Aṭaʾ ibn Al-Saʾib.

And whatever is narrated from Bishar ibn Yasar, I have narrated it from Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Idris - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from his father, from Muhammad ibn Abi Al-Ṣuhban, from Muhammad ibn Sinan, from Bishar ibn Yasar.

And whatever is narrated from Abdullah ibn Jablah, I have narrated it from my father, and from Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan, and from Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Al-Mutawakkil - may Allah (swt) be pleased with them - from Abdullah ibn Jafar Al-Himyari, from Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Jabbar, from Abdullah ibn Jablah.

I heard Abā ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) say: The heavens wept over Ḥusain ibn ‘Ali (a.s.) and Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā (a.s.) and they have never wept over anyone other than them. I asked, “How did the heavens weep?” Imam (a.s.) replied, “The heavens became red for forty days like the sun at the time of sunrise and sunset.” I asked, “Is that how the heavens weep?” Imam (a.s.) replied, “Yes.”

'What is intellect (al-'Aql)?'. He said, ‘It is what someone worships ar-Rahman with and attains paradise.’ I then asked, 'What was the thing within Mu'awiya?'. He replied, ‘That was heinousness, that was devilry and it is similar to the intellect but it is not intellect.’

“I said to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), ‘May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, you know how devoted I have been towards your father and after him to yourself. I then swore before him up on the rights of the Messenger of Allah and the rights of so and so and so and so (Ali, al-Hassan, al-Husayn . (a.s.) until his own self trying to assure him that whatever you would tell me will not be made public and spread to other people. I asked him about his father to find out if he alive or dead.” He said, “by Allah, he that his father had passed away.” I then said, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, your followers (Shi‘a) narrate that in him the traditions of four prophets are found.” He then said, “In certainty by Allah, besides whom there is no Lord that he (my father) has passed away.” I asked, “Is his passing away in the form of disappearance or in the form of death?” He then said, “It is in the form of death.” I then said, “Perhaps you are observing cautious fear from me.” He said, “All glory belongs to Allah, (that is not the case).” I then asked, “Did he deliver his will to you?” He said, “Yes, he did so.” I then asked, “Has he made others as your partners in executing his will?” He said, “No, he has not done so.” I then asked, “Is there any Imam over you among your brothers?” He said, “No, there is no one from them.” I then asked, “Are you the Imam (a.s.)?” He said, “Yes, I am the Imam (Leadership with Divine Authority).”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Count of the month of al-Sha‘ban twenty nine days; if it is cloudy then fast, but if it is clear and you looked but did not see anything, you can remain without fasting.’”

“The Jews asked the Messenger of Allah (s.a.), ‘Describe for us the genealogy- of your Lord.’” The Prophet waited for three days and gave no reply. Then the following verses were revealed to him: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (Muhammad), say, “He is the only God (112:1). God is Absolute (112:2). He neither begets nor was He begotten (112:3). There is no one equal to Him (112:4). The same Hadith has been narrated by Muhammad ibn Yahya from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam from abu Ayyub.

“I once asked abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about al-Nabidh. He (the Imam) said that once the Messenger of Allah addressed the people and said, £ 0 people, all intoxicating liquor is unlawful. You must take notice that whatever in large quantity is intoxicating liquor, it in a small quantity also is unlawful.’”

When Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Musa (a.s) died, a chair or a platform was put for Imam Hadi (a.s) and the Imam sat on it. Abu Muhammad, Imam Hasan Askari (a.s) also stood besides the Imam. After he completed the funeral bath of Abu Ja’far, Imam Hadi (a.s) glanced at Abu Muhammad (a.s) and said: “God has made succession (rest) with you from Him. So praise God.”

When Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, fell ill, she willed to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah bless him, to withhold the news of her (death) and treat it as a secret; and to allow no one to visit her during her illness. So he did accordingly, attending on her himself, helped by Asma bint Umays, may Allah bless her with mercy, so as to maintain the secrecy as she wished. Then as her death drew near, she willed that Amirul Mu’mineen, peace be upon him, should attend to her rites, to bury her at night and to efface the trace of her grave. So Amirul Mu’mineen, peace be upon him, arranged accordingly, buried her and concealed the place of her burial. When he dusted off the earth of the grave (from hands), he was so overwhelmed with grief that tears rolled on his cheeks. And then he turned his face towards the grave of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, and said: "Peace be upon you from me, O messenger of Allah! And peace be upon you from your beloved daughter, the delight of your eye, your visitor, resting in the earth in your locality, for whom Allah so destined that she should join you so soon. O messenger of Allah, it is indeed difficult to forbear the parting of your beloved daughter and my strength has waned with the demise of the lady who was above the women of the world. My main source of solace has been from your tradition (of submission to the will of Allah) and from your own departure which caused to me greater sorrow. For I laid you in the niche of your grave after you breathed your last on my chest, and I interred you with my own hands. And I attended to your rites myself. Yes, and the Book of Allah has the best guide to submission (in the verse): ’To Him we belong and unto Him shall we return.’ (2:156). The trust has been (thus) returned (to you) and the deposit (with me) has been redeemed; and al-Zahra has been snatched away (from me). How ugly has the green and the dusty (i.e. the surrounding) become. O messenger of Allah! As for my sorrow, it is ever lasting, my nights sleepless. The grief cannot leave my heart, till Allah destines for me the same abode as yours where you live. It is the heartache like a festering wound, and the irritating distress. How soon have we been parted from each other? And I raise my complain to Allah! Your daughter will inform you how your Ummah rallied against me and worked together to usurp her right. So you seek information from her. How much of ill feeling wrestles within her chest for revenge! for which she found no expression. She would say: ’Allah will judge, and He is the Most Just of the Judges.’ Farewell greetings to you O messenger of Allah! Not from weariness or seeking respite. If I go, I do not go because of tiredness, and if I stay on, it is not because of any distrust in what Allah has promised the patient ones. And patience is a blessed and more auspicious option. And had it not been for the prevailing authority against us, I would have found a place by your graveside, and would have lived in seclusion near it, and would have wailed the way a bereaved mother wails over her dead son, over the most distressing calamity. With Allah as Witness, your daughter is buried in secrecy, her rights usurped forcefully, and her inheritance denied openly. And the time has not been long, nor had you been forgotten. So, the complain is raised to Allah, O messenger of Allah! And to you I offer the most sincere condolence; and the blessing of Allah be upon you and her, and His Mercy and His Grace."

“Abul Hassan (s) sent me the Commander of the Faithful’s (s) will and the list of endowments of his father (s) by Abu Ismail Mosadef (Imam Kadhim’s slave), and indicated the list of endowments of Ja’far ibn Muhammad (s) and his own as follows, ‘In the Name of God, the Beneficent the Merciful. This is the list of what Musa ibn Ja’far endows. He endows his land located in such and such places. The boundaries of the land are so and so. All the land, the date palms, parts of it that are not constructed, the water in it, its corners, the water right and the turn for its use of water, and every other right at its heights and its pastures, all its existing facilities , its yard and its streams; its cultivated and its dry parts are endowed by Musa ibn Ja’far to his children - male or female. The caretaker in charge of this land will subtract the expenses for its maintenance and development from its income - other than the income from thirty of its trees that will be divided among the poor people of the village. He will divide this income between the children of Musa ibn Ja’far . Each boy will be given twice that of each girl. The payments to each of the daughters of Musa ibn Ja’far who gets married will be cut-off until she loses her husband in which case her share will be like that of unmarried girls. Whenever one of the children of Musa dies their children will receive their father’s share - each boy will receive double the amount that each girl receives just as Musa has determined for his own children. Whenever one dies and does not have any children, then his share will be added to the others’ share. His daughter’s children will not receive any share unless their fathers are from my descendants. No one has any share in this as long as I have some descendants. If they all die and no one is left, then the income from these endowments will be paid to my brothers and sisters as long as they are living based on the same conditions that I stated for my children and my descendants. If all my brothers and sisters die, then the income from this endowment will be paid to my paternal brothers (uncles) and sisters (aunts) and their descendants as long as there is anyone. If none of these relations live, then the income from this endowment will be paid to my relatives and close friends - whoever is closest to me until the time when God the Almighty inherits whatever He will inherit. He is the best inheritor. Musa ibn Ja’far endowed thisproperty without any doubt in perfect health in a just and non-revokable manner to seek God’s pleasure and the blessings of the Hereafter. No believer who has faith in God and the Resurrection Day is allowed to sell it, buy it, donate it to someone, or change its stated conditions, until the life of man and whatever is on the Earth is over, and God inherits it. This endowment is trusted to Ali and Ibrahim. Whenever one of them dies, Al-Qasim will take his place. If anyone of these two dies, then al-Abbas will take his place. If anyone of these two dies, then the oldest son will take his place. If only one person of my generation is left, then he will be in charge of his endowment.’”The narrator of this tradition said, “Abul Hassan (s) said, ‘My father gave a higher priority to Isma’il over al-Abbas, even though he is younger than him.’”

I asked Abil Hassan Al-Ridha (s), “Let me know about the difference between the will of the Sublime God, and the will of the creatures.” The Imam (s) said, “The will of the creatures is in the form of an inner thought, deciding what isbest to do, and an action that follows. However, the Will of the Honorable the Exalted God is the same as Creation. He does not need to decide and think. These traits do not apply to Him. They are the characteristics of the creatures. Once the Sublime God wills, it is what He does. Nothing else. That is as He says, ‘We but say the word, ‘Be’, and it is.’ without any articulation, verbal expression, directed attention or thought. Just as God Himself does not have a quality of being, His Will has no quality of being.”

“When Fatima (sa) passed away, Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (as) buried her secretly and camouflaged the location of her grave. Then he stood up and turned his face towards the grave of Rasulullah (sa) and said, ‘Peace be upon you, Oh Rasullulah from me and from your daughter - your visitor, and the one who rests in the earth near you; chosen by Allah to join you swiftly. Say, Oh Rasulullah, regarding your beloved, my patience and pardon for Sayyidat al-Nisa al-’Alameen’s distress, except that for me in emulating your sunnah in your separation, there is a place of comfort. Indeed, I have made sure you are not lonely in your grave while your soul left your body, between my own throat and chest. Indeed, in the Book of Allah, I find the most gracious of acceptance «Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return» (2:156). The trust has been betrayed, the pledge seized, al-Zahraa has been taken away from us. How ugly the lush fields and barren lands (now) seem, Oh Rasulullah! As for my grief, it is endless and as for my nights, they are sleepless. Anxiety will never leave my heart until Allah (swt) places me in the same abode as you. How swift our separation was! To Allah, I complain, and your daughter will inform you of the distress of your community over her oppression. So, ask her and inquire about her condition, for many are the aggrieved whose chests find no relief, nor do they find a way to express their sorrow. And she will say, 'Woe unto them, and Allah will judge, and He is the best of judges.' I offer my prayer to Allah to grant you blessings as a note of farewell, but not because of disappointment and despair. If I return (to your grave), it is not that I have become tired and if I stand (to leave) it will not be because of my pessimism in the promise of Allah to those who exercise patience. Indeed, to exercise patience is more safe and beautiful. Had it not been for the dominance of the mischievous ones, I would have made my stay bound and fixed and not resort to that of a weak against the strong to preserve my honor. By the grace of Allah, your daughter is buried in secrecy, her rights are taken away unjustly, her inheritance withheld. The covenant has not been broken, nor has the memory faded from you. To Allah, Oh Rasulullah, I complain, and from you seek condolences. May Allah's blessings and peace and pleasure be upon you and upon her."

Abu Qurra the Hadith scholar asked me to facilitate his entrance into the presence of Abi al-Hasan al-Ridha عليه السلام … so Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام said: … if the narrations contradict the Qur’an then I reject them, and what the Muslims have all unanimously agreed upon is that He cannot be fully comprehended by knowledge, and the eye-sight cannot overtake Him, and there is nothing like Him.

When Ali ibn al-Husayn (as) was on his deathbed, he took out a box or chest that was with him and said, "O Muhammad, carry this chest." So he carried it between four men. When he passed away, his brothers came claiming what was in the chest and said, "Give us our share of the chest." He replied, "By God, you have no share in it. If you had a share in it, he would not have entrusted it to me." In the chest were the weapons of the Messenger of God (saw) and his books.

“When Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) was about to leave this world he took out a basket or a box that was with him. He then said, “O Muhammad take this box. “ The narrator has said that then he (Muhammad) took the box with four people. When The Imam (a.s.) died his sons came asking for the box and said, “Give us our share from the box.” He (Muhammad) then said to them, “By Allah, there is nothing for you in it. Had there been anything for you he would not have given it to me.” In the box there was the weapon of the Messenger of Allah (sw).”