Meeting with Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s) – Account of Ibrahim ibne Mahezyaar

Shaikh Saduq narrates from Mohammed bin Musa bin Mutawakkil who narrates from Abdullah bin Jafar Hamri who narrates from Ibrahim ibne Mahazyaar:

“To know about the son of Imam Hasan Askari(a.s.) and his condition, I undertook a journey to Medina. But inspite of many enquiries I could not know about his whereabouts.

Then in a dejected state I went to Mecca Mukarrama. Once I was busy doing the tawaf of Kaaba, that my eyes fell on an extremely handsome and pleasant youth. When I saw his enlightened face immediately a thought crossed my mind maybe due to this youth Allah may fulfil my wishes. With this thought I approached that youth and coveyed my salutations to him.

The youth replied to my salutation in a well-mannered way. Therafter the youth asked me :

Where do you stay?

I answered : I am an inhabitant of Iraq.

Then he said : Which city do you stay?

I answered : I stay in the city of Ahwaz.

Then the youth said : You are welcome. Do you now about person Jafar bin Hamdan Hussaini from the city of Ahwaz.

I said : He has become beloved to Allah.

Then the youth said : May Allah have mercy on him and increase his rewards. He was a great worshipper.

The he said to me : Tell me, do you know Ibrahim ibne Mahazyaar?

I answered : I am Ibrahim ibne Mahazyaar.

When he heard my name, immediately he embraced me and said :

Abu Ishaq! You are welcome. Tell me, what have you done with the gift which Imam Hasan Askari (a.s..) has given to you?

I said : I think you are referring to this ring which the elevated Imam has blessed me with?

The youth said : I also wanted to ask you about this only.

I removed the ring and placed the ring in his hand. Seeing the ring, he started crying and kissed it and read the writings on the ring on which was written:

Ya Allah……Ya Muhammed…… Ya Ali !

Seeing the ring he said: My mother and father be sacrified on the one, on whose finger this ring used to be once upon a time.

After this we spoke about a lot of things. Then he said to me:

Abu Ishaq! After Hajj what is your greatest desire in your heart?

I said : With regard to the greatest desire of my life only , I wished to know something from you.

The youth said : OK, ask. If Allah wills I will say everything to you.

I said : Do you have any idea about the son of Imam Hasan Askari(a.s.)?

He said : Yes, I know even know about the enlightened foreheads of Muhammed and Musa, sons of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.). I am a messenger sent by them. They have sent me to you. If you wish to see them and would like to cool your eyes with their sight then come with me to Taif and you have to keep this travel secret from your friends.

Then I went with him to Taif . moved forwards crossing the sand-dunes and the peaks of mountains. Finally on the peak of one Sand-dune I saw a tent made of hair that was shining like a full moon.

Then the youth entered the tent and gave them the news of my arrival. Among them the name whose name was same as that of the Prophet of Allah(s.a.w.s) came out of the tent . I noticed that hehad a clear and youthful countenance. The color of his purified body was absolutely clear, eyebrows joined, soft cheeks, high nose. There was a mole on his right cheek which shone like a star and seemed to be a particle of musk on a mirror. The hair reached to the ear lobes and I saw such signs as I had never seen before and I had never before beenfamiliar with such elegance and modesty. I rushed to him, fell at his feet and began to kiss them. He said: O Abu Ishaq, congratulations to you. I was eager to meet you since a long time. Even though you lived far away, your face was always there in my imagination. As if no moment was without the best conversation and meeting. I thank my Lord who is the owner of praise that He saved me from meetings and discord. And that he bestowed me the opportunity to remain successful in the coming circumstances.After this discourse, he inquired about the other believers of Ahwaz. I said: Master, as soon as Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) passed away I set out ins earch of you, leaving my home and people and I have been roaming about till date, therefore I cannot tell you anything about those people. But today Allah, the Mighty and Sublime has fulfilled my aim. After that he took me in private, made me sit down comfortably and then said: The fact is that my respected father – may Allah bless him – took oath from me that I would not reside in one place but in hidden and far off lands. So that I may protect myself from the deceit and plots of deviated and rejected people that are present in wayward communities. Thus I was sent to the highlands and I considered the barren areas necessary for myself. I was shown the causes through which problems are solved and calamities dispelled. His Eminence (a.s.) also made me familiar about the treasures of wisdom and the fine points of sciences that I was unaware of or had superficial knowledge of. My father gave me from the treasures of unseen secrets and wisdom, such that if I taught even a part of it to you, O Abu Ishaq, you will not be in need to ask anyone in the world. My father said: Allah, the Mighty and Sublime had at no time left any part of the world in no circumstances without His Proof, who may help them in religious and worldly affairs, and who is their leader in the world and the hereafter. That is why I can tell you that I am certain that my son, after me you are from those who are sent by Allah, the Mighty and Sublime till today, one after the other, to distinguish truth and falsehood. These Imams distinguish truth from falsehood and destroy the basis of recognition of falsehood. They douse the fire of disbelief and apostasy.  In order to be safe from the calamities of the time, it is necessary for you to live in far off hidden places, because in every age every representative of God also has an enemy who is always ready for confrontation with the divine appointees. It is so because the latter considers it his religious duty to fight the enemies of Allah. So the exceeding number of your enemies should not frighten you. You must also be assured that the hearts of the sincere believers are as eager to meet you as the birds are eager to reach their nests. And the people with the perfect faith and absolute sincerity are those who apparently live ordinary lives and in difficult circumstances in the world. But in the view of Allah these people have an exalted status and much value even though in the view of the people, they are helpless and needy. They have contentment and they keep away from sins. It is they who nurture the religion of God and are prepared to fight the enemies of faith. Allah, the Mighty and Sublime has secured them through patience and forbearance. They shall remain in the world with the same qualities till the Almighty Allah conveys them to their eternal abode in Paradise. They have been endowed with patience so that in times of distress they may display the jewels of their patience and bear all the calamities of the world without any reaction, and crossing each stage reach to the stages of the hereafter. So gain from knowledge. O son, dispel the darkness of calamites and humility with the light of patience so that the Almighty Allah may remove that calamity from you and be assured that all the calamities and problems that befall you, all of them increase your honor because you are famous in the world as a righteous one. That is why your excellences are spoken of in all the areas. O son, as I can see that you have been defended verbally that is why you have been able to gain an upper hand over your enemies. As if I can see the yellow and white flag in the vicinity of the Kaaba. Your followers  are very loyal and sincere to you. They gather around you like pearls and they glance at your house in hope of refuge like people stretch their hands towards the Hajarul Aswad. Allah, the Mighty and Sublime has created their hearts with pure love and blessed essence and has kept it purified of every contamination and impurity of hypocrisy. They readily accept the ways of religion and its dos and don’ts and they are away from mischief and corruption. Due to their acceptance of divine laws their countenances are always shining. Due to excellence their bodies are strong and active. They are the ones who bring faith on the religion of truth and it is these who will rush to pay allegiance to you. Allah, the Mighty and Sublime has strengthened their bodies and increased their life spans. They would pay allegiance to you under a tree with thick branches near the Tiberius Sea and as a result of their allegiance, the people of innovation and deviation will be scattered. The rise of reality will begin at this time and the darkness of ignorance and misguidance will come to an end, through which the Almighty Allah will remove all the corruption from the earth and after being erased completely, the ways of faith and religion will be established afresh. All this would happen through you. People will be involved in spiritual maladies at this time, but your followers and helpers will not be affected with them. Your acceptance will be so widespread that even an infant in the cradle will be desirous of coming to you to pay the allegiance. But those who are away from the straight path and like beasts, they will not be inclined to you. The rest of the world will through serving you, obtain salvation and eternal joy. Due to you the branches of honor will become green once more and the edifice of respectability will remain firm in its location. Due to you the lost pages of religious law and divine commandments will be restored. The clouds of success and help will rain for you. At that time you will strangle your enemies and help your followers. At that time on the whole of earth, there will not remain any oppressor that deviates from truth and neither will there be any denier that considers the true commands debased. No enemy of yours will remain and neither will be anyone that points out defects. No opponent will be left to oppose you.

“And whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him; surely Allah attains His purpose…” (Surah Talaq 65:3)

Then he said: O Abu Ishaq, keep this location and this meeting secret, except from those who are reliable from among your brothers in faith. And when the signs of reappearance and advent become apparent to you, do notlag behind your brothers in reaching me, and make haste to obtain the effulgence of certainty and religion so that you may obtain guidance, if Allah wills. Ibrahim bin Mahziyar says: I stayed with His Eminence for sometime to gain points of wisdom and clarification of many problems and obtained therevival of faith in my heart. After that I became nostalgic for my people and with regret of separation from the Imam asked him to allow me to leave. The Imam accorded me permission and also gave me a supplication which carries untold spiritual benefits and which will be a source of blessing for my children and relatives. I had with me an amount of 50000 dirhams which I presented to the Imam who smiled and said that I should use it for my expenditure in the return journey. He said that I must not think that the Imam has not accepted it He said: May Allah increase your wealth and make it last for you ever. May He give you the rewards of the righteous and grant you the traits of the obedient ones. All the excellence belongs only to Him. And I pray that Allah makes you reach home safely without any problem. I entrust you to Allah. You will never be deprived of His mercy and blessings, if Allah wills. O Abu Ishaq, we have adopted contentment due to His great favors and benefits of thankfulness. And we have protected our selves through the company of divine saints, purity of intention and unadulterated advice. And we have guarded that which is absolutely clean and whose mention is very lofty. Abu Ishaq said: I thank Allah, the Mighty and Sublime that He showed me the right path. I returned after meeting the Imam with a certainty that the Almighty Allah will not allow His earth to decay and nor would He keep it devoid of His clear proof. I publicized this report in order to increase the insight of the people of faith and to increase the recognition of the purified progeny of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.). It was a kind of returning the trust that I held. So I decided to submit to that which had become clear to me so that Allah, the Mighty and Sublime grants me the strength of determination, helps my intention and increases the belief in infallibility.”