Narrated to us Husain bin Ahmad bin Idrees (r.a.) that he said: Narrated to us my father: Narrated to us Abu Saeed Sahl bin Ziyad Aadami ar-Razi that he said: Narrated to us Muhammad bin Aadam an-Nasai from his father Aadam bin Abi Iyaas that he said: Narrated to us Mubarak bin Fadala from Saeed bin Jubair from Chief of the worshippers, Ali bin Husain from his father, the Chief of the Martyrs, Husain bin Ali from his father, the Chief of the Successors, the Leader of the Believers Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) said:
“When his death approached Yusuf (a.s.) called his followers and family members. After praise and glorification of Allah he informed them that they would be involved in hardships and calamities in which their males should be killed and the bellies of their pregnant women should be cut open and their children should be slaughtered. Till finally the Almighty Allah will give victory to truth through one who will reappear from the descendants of Laavi bin Yaqoob (a.s.).
He shall be a wheat-complexioned and well-built man. And he told them about his characteristics. Then he advised them to remain attached to him. After that both, occultation and severities befell the people of Bani Israel and they waited for the advent of the Qaim for four hundred years. Finally they were given the glad tidings of his birth and they witnessed the signs of the advent and the trials and calamities intensified upon them. They were attacked with sticks and stones. So they called for that thinker and scholar whose words used to give them comfort. At that time he had also gone into seclusion. So they wrote to him reminding him that when they faced hard times they used to get comfort from his words. So he took them to the desert and told them about the Qaim of the time that his advent was near. It was a moonlit night. At the same time Musa (a.s.) began to move toward them. At that time he was a young man. He had emerged from the house of Firon and there was expression of his purity. So he left his companions and moved toward these people. He was riding a mule at that time and had covered himself with a green silken sheet. When the learned man saw him, he recognized him at once through the foretold signs. He arose from his place and fell down on his feet and kissed his feet as a respect and said, “Praise be to Allah Who did not give me death till I could meet you. When the followers
understood that it is the same in whose anticipation they had been, they fell down in prostration to thank Allah, the Mighty and Sublime. Musa (a.s.) did not say anything other than, “I am sure the Almighty Allah will release you from your difficulties very soon,” After that he disappeared. Later Musa (a.s.) went to Madayn and stayed with Shuaib (a.s.). Thus his second occultation was more severe upon his followers than the first and it lasted for a fifty odd years. During this time they were subjected to further severities and the learned man also remained in concealment. Again they sent a message to him that they had no peace and patience when he was away from them. So again he came out in a desert and assured and consoled them. He said that Allah has revealed to him that they shall be free from this trouble within forty years. They all said in unison:
Praise be to Allah. Allah said to him, “Tell them that Allah has decreased for them ten years from these 40 years as they had uttered ‘Praise be to Allah’.
The people said: All the bounties are from Allah alone. So Allah, the Mighty and Sublime sent revelation that: “I have fixed the period of deliverance as twenty years.
They said, “Goodness is from none except Allah.” Allah, the Mighty and Sublime revealed, “I have reduced it to ten years.”
They said, “None but Allah can remove bad times and hardships.” So Allah sent revelation: Tell them not to wait anymore. I have permitted that the means of your deliverance should reach you immediately.
They were in the same position when Musa (a.s.) appeared to them astride a donkey. The learned man wanted to tell the followers what they were seeing. Musa (a.s.) arrived, stood before them and greeted them. The learned man asked,
“What is your name?”
“I am Musa (a.s.),” he replied.
He asked, “Whose son are you?” Musa (a.s.) said, “I am the son of Imran.”
The man asked, “Whose son was he?” “He was the son of Qahath bin Laavi bin Yaqoob,” replied Musa (a.s.).
He asked, “What have you come with?” Musa (a.s.) replied, “I have come with messengership from Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.
The learned man stood up and kissed his hands with respect. Musa (a.s.) sat down among them, consoled them and after teaching them some religious commands dispersed them. Between this incident and their deliverance through the drowning of Firon there was a period of forty years.”