سفيان

The Prophet (MGB) said, ‘The rule of the people will not end until twelve men come to lead them.’ Then the Prophet (MGB) said something in a lowered voice. I asked my father, ‘What did he (MGB) say when he lowered his voice?’ My father said, ‘The Prophet (MGB) said, ‘They are all from the Quraysh.’”

I found that all the knowledge of the people is in four areas:1- to know your Lord;2- to know what He has done with you;3- to know what He expects of you; and4- to know what will deviate you from your religion.”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), once asked, ‘Do you know why mahr (dower) of women has become four thousand?’ I replied, ‘No, I do not know.’ He (the Imam) said, “Umm Habibah, daughter of abu Sufyan was in al-Habashah (Ethiopia) and the Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, proposed marriage. Al-Najashiy paid four thousand. For this reason they take it, however, the actual mahr (dower) is twelve Awqiyah and one Nashsha.’”

“Verily, the people who are circumambuling (the Ka`bah) are passing in front of you.” Thus, he (AS) replied, “The One to whom I pray to is closer to me than they are.”

“Once I said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘What do you say about the feeble-minded people?’ The Imam asked me in a manner similar to one frightened, ‘Have you left anyone to be considered feeble? By Allah, girls behind the curtains have heard about your cause (Divine Authority of Ahl al-Bayt ) and water carriers in the street of Madina speak about it.’”

Abu Ja'far Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir (as) said: "Do you know why the dowries of women became four thousand dirhams?" I said: "No." Imam (as) said: "Indeed, Umm Habibah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan, was in Abyssinia when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) proposed to her. The Negus (the king of Abyssinia) gave four thousand dirhams on his behalf as her dowry. Since then, people have followed this practice. However, the original dowry was twelve uqiyyah and a nash."

Abu `Ali al-Qassab related to me that I was in the present of Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS), so I said: “All praise be to Allah whose Knowledge has ended.” He (AS) consequently replied: “Do not say that for, verily, there is no end to His Knowledge.”

The people of Heaven are divided into one-hundred and twenty groups, eighty of which are my followers.”

It is not proper to be jealous except in two conditions. The first case is to be jealous of a man to whom God has granted things and he gives some in charity day and night. The second case is to be jealous of a man to whom God has granted the Quran and he recites it during the day and the night.”

You have surely made your religion subservient to the worldly seekings of a man whose misguidance is not a concealed affair and whose veil has been torn away. He mars an honourable man with his company and befools those who keep his society. You are following in his footsteps and seeking his favours like the dog that follows the lion looking at his paws and waiting for whatever remnants of his prey fall down to him. In this way, you have ruined your world as well as the next life, although if you had stuck to the right, you would have got what you were after. If Allāh grants me power over you and Ibn Abī Sufyān (Mu‘āwiyah), I shall award you both recompense of what you have done, but if you escape and survive then hereafter there is only evil for you both; and that is an end to the matter.

“I heard Sufyan al-Thawriy asking him (the Imam) about greening. He (the Imam) said that once a man from al-Ansar died and the Messenger of Allah was asked to attend his funeral. He (the Messenger of Allah) asked one of the relatives of the deceased to green up their fellow man; greening people are very few.’ They asked, ‘What is greening?’ He (the Messenger of Allah) replied, ‘It is a fresh twig which is placed near the hands up to the collar bones.’”

“I said to Ali bin Husain (a.s): Describe to me the rise of Mahdi and tell me about his proofs and signs. He said: Before his advent, a man will appear whose name is Auf Salmi, in the land of Jazira, who will stay in Tikrit and will be killed in the Masjid of Damascus; after that will appear Shuaib bin Salih from Samarqand. At that time will appear the accursed Sufyani from the valley of Yabis, and he would be from the progeny of Utbah bin Abu Sufyan; and when Sufyani appears, the Mahdi will go into occultation, after that he will appear again.”

“Allah loves every sad heart and He loves every thankful servant. Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, on the Day of Judgment will say to a servant among His servants, ‘Did you thank so and so?’ He (that servant) will say, ‘No, but 1 thanked You, O Lord.’ Allah will say, ‘You have not thanked Me because you did not thank him.’ The Imam said, ‘The most thankful among you to Allah is the most thankful among you to people.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘When Allah wills good for a servant upon his committing a sin He causes it to be followed by a misfortune to remind him of the need to plead for forgiveness. When Allah wills evil for a servant upon his committing a sin He causes it to be followed by his gaining bounties that make him forget the need to plead for forgiveness and continue in sin. This is indicated in the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, ‘We gradually lead those who have called Our revelations mere lies, to destruction. Their destruction will be such that they will not even notice how it seized them.’ (7:182) This happens to them by means of His granting them bounties when they commit sins.’”

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, prayed in it. Hence, we prayed in it, and then he showed us a place at the top of the mountain, and he said: The Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family climbed to it, and it used to be rain water there. Zurara said: It then hit within me that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, did not climb to any water. I then said: I will not come with you. I will sleep here until you come. Then he and Bukair walked, and so they went and then came to me, and then we all went. Then, until the next day, we came to Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him, and he said to us: Where were you yesterday, for indeed, I did not see you? So, we informed him and described to him the mosque and the spot in which it was claimed that the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, climbed to and and washed his face in. Abu Ja’far said: The Messenger of Allah never came to that place. We said to him: It has also been narrated to us that his front tooth were broken. He said: No. Allah took him unto Himself in safety, however, he was cut open in his face, and he sent Ali, so he brought him water in a leather vessel, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, felt disgusted to drink from it, and he washed his face.

The Messenger of Allah (s) said: For Allah, there are angels who visit the Earth who deliver the salaam of my Nation to me.

I heard Ja’far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him say: "Tests and trials begin with us and then with you, and the times of ease begin with us and then with you. And by the oath of Him where oath is usually taken, Allah will triumph through you the way He triumphed through the stones (of clay)." (Refer to Surah al-Fil).

he heard the Commander of the Believers, peace be upon him, say: Indeed, after me will be darkening, blind, doubt-causing, tribulations in which none will remain except for the sleeper. It was said: O Commander of the Believers, and what is a sleeper? He said: The one about whom people do not know what is in.

Abu Sufyan approached, while Mu’awiya was following him, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: «O Allah, curse the following and the followed. O Allah, it is upon You to ruin the belittled lordotic.» Ibn Baraa’ said to his father: Who is the belittled lordotic? He said: Mu’awiya.

I said to Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him: What do you say about the weakened ones? Then he said to me, as if he was terrified: And have you left anyone to be (in a state that they are) weakened? And where are the weakened ones? For by Allah, your matter has been carried by shoulders to shoulders in houses and it has been spoken if by rumor collectors in the roads of Medina.