The Exceptional Narrations — Hadith 2

āh and act as Allāh’s witness over the creation if he cannot see them? ! How can he be the Decisive Proof on the people if he is hidden from them while he has been appointed as the medium between the slaves and Allāh so that he carries out the orders of his Lord to them? ! Allāh says, “We have not sent you but to all of mankind” (34: 28). This verse refers to everything on earth (not only mankind). The Decisive Proof after the Messenger of Allāh (s. a. a. w. ) fills the post of the Messenger of Allāh (s. a. a. w. ) after him. He is the judge in that which the nation disagrees about, the one who gives people their rights, the one who carries out the orders of Allāh, and he is the one who justly rules between the people. And how can the (following) words of Allāh be fulfilled if the Imam is not among the people? ! Allāh says, “Soon We shall show Our signs to them in the horizons, and within themselves” (41: 53). And which sign other than us did Allāh show to the people in the horizons? ! Allāh says, “And We did not show them any sign but it was greater than the other” (43: 48). Which sign is greater than us? ! I swear to Allāh that Banī Hāshim and Quraysh know well that which Allāh has bestowed upon us but jealousy destroyed them, just as it destroyed Iblīs. Verily they come to us when they are in distress and when they are in fear and they ask us (questions), and we clarify their questions for them. Then they say to us, “We testify that you are the people of knowledge. ” Then they leave us and say, “We have not seen anyone more astray than those who follow them (the Ahlul Bayt (a. s. )) and accept their words. ” I asked, “May I sacrifice myself for you! If the grave of Ḥusain (a. s. ) was to be disinterred, would anything be found in it? ” Imam (a. s. ) replied: O son of Bukayr! Your questions are (always) about great matters. Verily Ḥusain (a. s. ) along with his father, mother, and his brother, Ḥasan (a. s. ), are with the Messenger of Allāh (s. a. a. w. ) in his house and they are being rewarded and sustained, (just) as the Prophet (s. a. a. w. ) is. If his grave would have been disinterred during his time, he would have been found there. However, today he is alive and sustained, and he is with his Lord. He looks at his camp (in Karbalā) and he also looks at the Throne until the time when it is ordered to carry him. Verily Ḥusain (a. s. ) is hanging on to the right side of the Throne and says, “O my Lord! Fulfill Your promise to me. ” Verily he looks at those who go to his Ziyārah and he knows them; he knows the names of their fathers, their ranks and their positions with Allāh, and that which they carry along with them even better than you know your own sons. Verily Ḥusain (a. s. ) looks at those who cry over him and he seeks forgiveness for them as an act of mercy and he asks his father to seek forgiveness for them. And he says to them (those who cry over him), “O those who cry (over me)! If you knew that which has been prepared for you, your happiness would be greater than your restlessness. ” Imam (a. s. ) continued, “Verily all of the angels in the heavens and in the Ḥā`ir who hear those who cry on Ḥusain (a. s. ) seek forgiveness for them, and they (the Zuwwār) will return with no sins. ”