عبيد الله

“I heard Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (as) saying: “By Allah, you are going to be tested, clarified and sifted like sifting out the Zu’an from wheat.”

“By Allah, you are going to be broken like glass but glass is remade and it returns as before. By Allah, you are going to be broken like the breaking of pottery but pottery is never remade as before. By Allah you are going to be sifted, to be clarified and to be purified until none of you remain save the least. (He shrank his hand.)” O people of Shia, pay much attention to these traditions narrated from Amirul Mo’mineen (as) and the infallible imams (as) after him. Ponder on them too much. They warn strongly of turning away from their Sharia by saying: “one believes in our matter in the morning and recants it in the evening or he believes in it in the evening and when morning comes he recants it.” It is a clear evidence showing neglecting the system of the imamate with all its concerns that lead to the straight path. Then Amirul Mo’mineen (as) gives an example when saying: “By Allah, you are going to be broken like glass but glass is remade and it returns as before. By Allah, you are going to be broken like the breaking of pottery but pottery is never remade as before.” Those, who believe in the doctrine of the infallible imams and then recant it and then they repent and return to the true belief when the mercy of Allah declares to them the purity of what they deny and the darkness of what they enter into, are like broken glass that it can be remade as before but those, who recant the true belief and remain in their confusion without repenting until death, are like broken pottery that cannot be remade as before because there is no repent after death.

Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) said, “I was with the Prophet (MGB) when Abdul Qays’s representatives came with a sac full of dates and placed it in front of the Prophet (MGB). Then the Prophet (MGB) asked, ‘Is this charity or a gift?’ They replied, ‘O Prophet of God! It is a gift.’ He (MG) asked them, ‘What kind of dates is it?’ They said, ‘It is Al-Barni dates.’ Then the Prophet (MGB) said, ‘There are nine characteristics in dates. Indeed Gabriel informed me that eating dates has nine benefits: 1. It eliminates pain. 2. It makes your breath smell good. 3. It helps digest food. 4. It improves hearing and vision. 5. It increases sex drive. 6. It strengthens the back. 7. It cuts off the hands of Satan. 8. It brings man closer to God. 9. It takes man farther away from Satan.’”

Qays b. `Asim said: I set out with a group from Bani Tamim to the Prophet (s). So, I entered, and al-Salsal b. Al-Dalhamas was with him. So, I said: “O Prophet of Allah! Give us a proverb by which we may benefit from, for we are a community that is established in the wilderness.” So, the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “O Qays! Surely, with glory, there is humiliation. With life, there is death. And, surely, with this world, there is the Hereafter. And, surely, with everything there is a reckoning, and with everything there is an observance. And, surely, with every good deed there is a reward, and with every sin there is a penalty, and with every matter a time. It is necessary, O Qays, that something will follow you and be buried with you while you are alive, and you will be buried with it when you are dead. If it is noble, it will make you noble. If it is wretched, it will cause you to surrender. It will not be resurrected except that it is with you, and you will not be resurrected except with it. You will not be asked about anything except for it; so, do not make it anything but righteous. Surely, if it is dealt with righteously, you will be relieved by it, but if it is corrupted, then you will only be lonely due to it. That thing is your actions.” So, he said: “O Prophet of Allah! I would love these words to be in stanzas of poetry so that we may make it a source of pride over those humiliate us among the Arabs.” So, the Prophet (s) sent for someone to bring Hassaan [b. Thabit]. He said: Then I began thinking of poetry that resembled this proverb, so I remembered a saying before Hassaan came. I said: “O Messenger of Allah! I remembered stanzas that I consider agreeing with what you want.” So, I (the narrator) said to Qays: “Choose a companion from your deeds, so it may accompany you in the grave of what you have prepared. You have no alternative after death but to be prepared, for the day on which you are called to him to accept, engage not in the affairs of this world in which there is not Allah’s contentment. Man will not have a companion after his death and even before death but his own deeds. Surely, man is only a guest of his own household. He would spend a short while with them before he departs.”