Hadith 587

(The book) ‘Al-Ikhtisas’ of Al-Sadouq – From Ibn Al-Mutawakkal, from Muhammad Bin Abu Abdullah Al-Kufy, from Musa Bin Imran, from his uncle Al-Husayn Bin Yazeed, from Ali Bin Salim, from his father, from Ibn tareyf, from Ibn Nubata, from Ibn Abbas who said, ‘Rasool-Allah-saww said: ‘Zikr (mention) of Allah-azwj Mighty and Majestic is (an act of) worship, and my-saww Zikr is (an act of) worship, and Zikr of Ali-asws is (an act of worship, and Zikr of the Imams-asws from his-asws sons-asws is (an act of) worship. By the One-azwj Who Sent me-saww with the Prophet-hood, and Made me-saww best of the created beings! My-saww successor-asws is most superior of the successors-as, and he-asws is a Divine Authority of Allah-azwj upon His-azwj creatures, and His-azwj caliph upon His-azwj creatures, and from his-asws sons-asws are the Imams-asws of guidance after me-saww. Due to them-asws, Allah-azwj Withholds the Punishment from the people of the earth, and due to them-asws: He Withholds the sky from falling upon the earth, except by His Permission? [22: 65]; and due to them-asws He-azwj Withholds the mountains from flattening out; and due to them-asws He-azwj Quenches His-azwj creatures with rain; and due to them-asws He-azwj Brings forth the vegetation. They-asws are friends of Allah-azwj truly, and my-saww sincere caliphs. Their number is the number of the months, and it is twelve months, and their-asws number is the number of captains of Musa-as Bin Imran-as’. Then he-saww recited this Verse: (I Swear) by the sky with the constellations [85: 1], then said: ‘Do you think, O Ibn Abbas, that Allah-azwj Swore by the sky with the constellation and Meant by it the sky and its constellations? ’
I said, ‘O Rasool-Allah-saww! So, what is that? ’ He-saww said: ‘As for the sky, it is me-saww, and as for the constellation, it is the Imams-asws after me-saww. Their-asws first is Ali-asws, and their-asws last is Al-Mahdi-asws, may the Salawaat of Allah-azwj be upon them-asws all’’. [57]
I (Majlisi) am saying, ‘It is reported by Ahmad Bin Muhammad Bin Ayyash in (the book) ‘Muqzab Al-Aser’, regarding the text upon the twelve, there are a lot of Hadeeth preceded by the chains of its ways, be cautious of the repetition and the numerousness, and we will be referring to some of these in the chapter on Raj’at. And it is reported from Ibn Uqdah, from Abdullah Bin Ahman Bin Mustawrid, from Mukhawwal, from Muhammad Bin Bakr, from Ziyad Bin Al-Munzir, from Abdul Aziz Bin Khuzeyr, from Abdullah Bin Abu Awfa who said, ‘Rasool-Allah-saww said: ‘There will happen to be after me-saww, twelve caliphs from Quraysh, then rotating Fitna would occur’. He (the narrator) said, ‘I said, ‘You heard it from Rasool-Allah-saww? ’ He said, ‘Yes, I heard it from Rasool-Allah-saww’. He said, ‘And upon my father on that d