Meeting with Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s) – 10th Century

from : http://www.islam-laws.com/articles/ulemameet.htm

Muqaddas Ardebeli was an illustrious Shia scholar. It is well- known about him that whenever he used to encounter a difficult problem which he was unable to solve, he used to go to the tomb of Imam Ali (A.S.) and present his problem. Imam Ali (A.S.), invariably provided the solution.

One of the students of Allama Ardebeli who was following his teacher closely states: “It was near midnight when being tired of studying, I was strolling in the courtyard of the shrine of Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibne Abi Talib (A.S.). In the luminous night, when all the doors of the sanctum were locked, I saw a person coming towards the tomb of Ali (A.S.). For a moment, I thought that it was a thief who intended to commit a robbery. I followed him. But when he reached the main door, to my utter amazement, the door swung open and the padlock opened by itself in welcome. He continued to move towards the grave and whenever he neared a door, it opened by itself till he entered the sanctum of Ameerul Momineen (A.S.) in a grand manner. He stood there and saluted the Imam (A.S.). He received the reply to his salutations and commenced the conversation. When the dialogue ended, he emerged and headed towards the mosque of Kufa. I fol衍owed him in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. When he reached the mosque of Kufa, he entered the Mihrab (niche of prayers where the Imam stands) and began to converse with someone in a subdued voice. After the conversation was over, he came out of the mosque and walked back to Najaf al-Ashraf. It was almost dawn when he was near the gate of the twin city. Suddenly, I felt like sneezing and though I tried my best to suppress it, I could not. The person ahead of me turned around and came towards me. On a closer look, I recognized him to be my honorable teacher, the great scholar Ayatullah Muqaddas-e-Ardebeli.

After conveying my salaam to him, I said, “From the time, you entered the Holy Mausoleum till now, I have been following you. I beg to know with whom were you talking at the mausoleum of Imam Ali (A.S.) and the mosque of Kufa?”

Muqaddas Ardebeli first put me under an oath not to disclose this secret till he was alive. Then proceeded to tell me that whenever he came across a difficult problem in Islamic laws which he could not solve, he used to present this query to Imam Ali Ibne Abi Talib (A.S.) and obtain the solution for the same. Last night, Ali (A.S.) directed me to contact Hazrat Sahibuz Zamaan (A.S.) and said, “My son Mahdi (A.S.) is at the Mosque of Kufa. He is the Imam of your time. Go to him and seek the solution of your problem.”

Obeying the order of Ali (A.S.), I went to the Kufa mosque and found Hazrat Sahibul Amr standing in the Mihrab. I presented my problem to my Master and received the solution.

(Al-Anwaar un-Nomaniya, Vol. 2, pg. 303)