In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful!
Resurrection (Qiyāmah) is called by twenty-eight names in the Qur’an. One of them is the “Day of Regret” (Yaumu’l-Ḥaṣrah). The verse that speaks of this is:
“Warn them of the Day of Regret, when all decision has already been made.” (19:39)
In our view, this single verse suffices—if we understand to whom these words are addressed: to the Seal of the Prophets (peace be upon him)—and is itself a warning. That which the warning is attached to is the Day of Regret.
Then God says that everything will be concluded: “all decision has already been made.” We have not paid enough attention to this and have missed much; if God wills, we will make up for it.
When al-Khidr and Dhu’l-Qarnayn reached the lands of darkness, al-Khidr said, “There is something under the horses’ hooves, and whoever picks it up will be ashamed; but if someone does not pick it up, he will be ashamed as well.” Some of the company said, “If the outcome is regret in any case, there is no point in dismounting and stooping to pick it up.” But others dismounted and gathered what they gathered. When the darkness lifted, they saw that it was emeralds.
Those who had taken them regretted that they had taken too few—one or two only—and their regret remained. Those who had taken nothing also regretted that they had taken nothing.
“Warn them of the Day of Regret”—its truth and reality lie precisely in this parable.
This near world (dunyā) is darkness… The Qur’an is truly astonishing! “Allah is the Protector of the believers; He brings them out from darkness into light” (2:257). But in this darkness hidden treasures lie. Whoever gathers them will on the Day of Resurrection be in sorrow: “Why did I take so little?” Those who derive no benefit at all will be in a sorrow too great for words, for there will be no further opportunity to lay up provisions.
For example, we might have commemorated the martyrdom (shahādah) of Fatimah al-Zahrāʾ (peace be upon her) in some village—and we did not. The regret for that will remain forever, because the date of last year’s martyrdom will not return. Had even one mourning procession in that village taken to the streets and mentioned her name, the outcome would have been what Imam Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) described… To grasp this narration requires the comprehension of scholars like Shaykh Awn al-‘Āṣarī… Imam Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) said, “May God have mercy on whoever revives our cause!” This expression of the Imam (peace be upon him) is itself the solution to the woes of the Day of Regret.
First, note that the prayer (“may God have mercy”) is in the past tense: raḥima-hu llāhu, “God has had mercy on him,” not yarḥam-hu llāhu, “God will have mercy on him.” This difference between what has been accomplished (past tense) and what is awaited (present-future tense) is profound—this discourse has a deep scholarly underpinning.
That prayer belongs to one whose first distinguishing mark is: “An Imam is recognized by his knowledge and by the fact that his prayers are answered.” It is impossible for the Imam’s prayer to be rejected. And here his prayer is: “God has had mercy on whoever revives our cause,” not “will have mercy.”
What is “reviving the cause”? What is mercy?
First, the mercy mentioned by the presence of al-Khidr… Again we must turn to the Qur’an. It says:
“The mercy of your Lord is better than whatever they accumulate.” (43:32)
Whatever all people have collected from the beginning of creation to its end is not even equal to one mercy from God. This mercy is what the Imam (peace be upon him) meant, and it is prepared for the one who revives their cause.
For this reason, we have lost much until today. For many years, no one mentioned the martyrdom of Fatimah al-Zahrāʾ (peace be upon her)! And so many deeds that we could have done, we did not! Now we must be vigilant, that at the very least we derive benefit from every moment of time!
“God has had mercy on whoever revives our cause.” That regret of the Day of Resurrection is compensated by this (command), and all that exists—it is here.
This Assembly (i.e., the Ahl al-Bayt), for whom creation was made, are those who vanish in God. This means: their will is entirely effaced before the will of God. “They give food, despite loving it themselves, to the poor, the orphan, and the captive, saying, ‘We feed you only for the sake of God’s Face’” (76:8–9).
This is the exemplar of their deeds. And then all their being disappears on the path of God’s will. And when God wills something, He says to it, “Be!” and it is. His will becomes their will.
The ziyārah that Shaykh Ṣadūq mentions is the most authentic ziyārah. Jurists understand this. The Shaykh cites it in his book Man lā yaḥḍuru’l-Fāqiḥ. He chose this ziyārah from among all others as the most authentic. And in it is said: “The Lord’s will, in ordaining His affairs, descends upon you and emanates from your homes.”
And whoever carries out deeds for them, his deeds cannot be measured! This is what is hidden from us and what we do not understand! For the subject itself is above comprehension.
First: we must understand for whom we do this work. For example, soon comes the middle of the month of Sha‘bān (the birthday of the Hidden Imam). What is the Middle of Sha‘bān? What happened on that night? Who is the Master of that night? The mind remains struck. The Imam of the Time eludes description. When I myself approach this question, I remain amazed and in wonder.
Shī‘īs and Sunnīs have transmitted—and astonishingly… If God wills, I wish now to give an exegesis (sharḥ) of this ḥadīth. The ḥadīth is as follows:
“The number of his companions equals the number of warriors at Badr. Each of them has a sword…”
Here pay attention! If the servant has such a station, what then of the Lord?…
“…Each sword’s hilt is inscribed with a thousand words, and from each of those words a thousand doors of knowledge are opened.”
Such is the station of the Imam of the Time’s companions!
And then comes a statement that stuns the intellect:
“They have no predecessors among the first generations, and the last cannot comprehend them.”
These 313 have such a station that neither the “first” (the earliest friends of God, the awliyāʾ of the early generations) nor the “last” (the awliyāʾ of the later generations) can attain their station.
If such are his assistants, who then is he himself? What is his rank? The subject of the Imam of the Time stuns the mind.
Were people to understand this, on the night of the Middle of Sha‘bān the entire land should rise under a single banner! Never in the worlds has there been such an event.
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) announced him, he said:
“Al-Mahdī is my descendant.”
And then follow two statements that astonish the mind:
“His name is my name, his kunyah is my kunyah.”
The name and the kunyah of the Seal of the Prophets (peace be upon him) are not permissible to anyone else except al-Ḥujjat ibn al-Ḥasan.
His name—name of the Seal; his kunyah—kunyah of the Seal.
And the statement that stuns even the likes of Shaykh Awn al-‘Āṣarī is:
“He is the most similar to me among people in appearance and in character (khulqan wa khalqan).”
Every spirit has its own body. The chosen spirit and the chosen body in the world of possibilities (ālam al-imkān)—in appearance and in character—is the first human of the world of possibility. And this is the Seal of the Prophets (peace be upon him).
And he himself says:
“The most similar to me among people…”
Of all humanity, none is more like me—in body and in the perfection of spirit—than al-Mahdī.
That is why the description of the Imam of the Time is beyond our conception.
People on the night of the Middle of Sha‘bān light lamps… But who is the Lord of that night?
Shaykh Ṭūsī in Misbāḥ al-Mutahajjid (“The Lamp of the Vigilant”) brings a du‘āʾ to be recited on the Middle of Sha‘bān, and the mind of any sage is struck by it.
The phrase that speaks of the Imam of the Time (peace be upon him) is:
“Your illuminating Light and Your resplendent radiance.”
The Imam of the Time is the Light of God, and he is a shining light. And he is God’s radiance, and that radiance is resplendent.
Such is the explanation of God’s Proof that Shaykh Ṭūsī brings in The Lamp of the Vigilant. That is who the Imam of the Time is!
You have all read Sūrat ash-Shams:
“By the sun and its shining,
And by the moon when it follows it,
And by the day when it displays it [the sun’s light]!” (91:1–3)
Three oaths in succession: the sun—its ta’wīl (spiritual interpretation) is that it is the Seal of the Prophets (peace be upon him). The moon—the Sovereign of the Believers is ‘Alī (peace be upon him). The day—that is al-Ḥujjat ibn al-Ḥasan.
“And by the day when it displays it [the sun’s light]!”
Each of you should do the following: every month, without exception, recite the entire Qur’an, and dedicate the reward of that recitation to the Imam of the Time. Do this, and then you will see for yourselves the effect.
Here is a precious elixir, but often when we awaken, it is already too late.
Some years ago I came upon this narration. As its chain of transmission is sound, so too are very few jurists its equals. We know the likes of Shaykh Awn al-‘Āṣarī, Mirzā Shirāzī, Shahīd al-Awwal and Shahīd al-Thānī. The hadith that we encountered leaves the mind stunned, and its consequence is this: whoever does this—whoever recites the Qur’an as much as he is able and gifts its reward to the Imam of the Time—his reward, beyond doubt, will be that “he will be with him.”
His reward will be companionship with him. What is Paradise compared to that? Thus, for whoever does this—reads the Qur’an as much as possible and dedicates its reward to the Imam of the Time—what he gives him is exactly what he will be with in this near world and in the Hereafter.
What does it mean “to be with him”? To be near the Imam of the Time…
The Imam of the Time is such that:
“Whoever wishes to see Adam and Shīth, I am Adam and Shīth.”
When he emerges from occultation, he will say:
“Whoever wishes to see Adam and Shīth, I am Adam and Shīth,
I am Nūḥ, I am Sīm,
I am Ibrāhīm, I am Ismā‘īl,
I am Mūsā, I am Hārūn,
I am ‘Īsā, I am Peter (Sham‘ūn).”
Until he reaches:
“And whoever wishes to see Muḥammad and ‘Alī, I am Muḥammad and ‘Alī.”
The Imam of the Time is the legacy of all the Prophets and their successors!
Serving him, working for him, spreading knowledge of his merits and station, reviving his cause—including during his occultation—is that treasure of which, on the Day of Resurrection, we will regret that we can no longer take one more step toward him in this world.
In any case… We hope that God, who recorded your names in this Book… And this recording did not occur by itself, but is the result of the righteous deeds of your fathers and mothers! Or else you performed one righteous deed through which God chose you, because not every name is recorded in the Book of Fatimah al-Zahrāʾ (peace be upon her)!
And that Day (when the Imam comes) will recall that night in which the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) longed for death (the night of Fatimah’s passing). That station is beyond description. That is success.
So strive that your names not be erased from that list, and labor diligently! Involve others in this work! For this work is weighty and the number (of those who uphold it) is few.
The more passionate and understanding people—those who recognize the greatness of this cause—are drawn to it, and the more it is elevated, the more its consequences will be manifest in two moments that words cannot encompass.
First—the moment of death, when the burden of death and the sorrow of vanishing gather over the person—and then without any doubt, “whoever dies will see me.” No exceptions.
At that moment the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) will come to your pillow. He will look upon you and see that you are one who exerted so much effort on behalf of his wife, whose rib was broken, and there will be no place for the Angel of Death.
And the second moment is the Day of the Great Judgment, when all the Prophets will exclaim, “Ah!” And suddenly Fatimah (peace be upon her) will come, throwing over her head a mantle stained with blood, and say, “O Lord! My Shi‘as!” Gabriel will descend and say, “O handmaid of God! God sends you greetings and says, ‘Whatever you wish, ask of Me on this Day!’”
The narration says: “As a bird gathers its eggs, so she will gather her Shi‘as and her servants.” This is the reward of your deeds.
O yes! Recognize the greatness of this reward and never grow weary on this path! “Neither thirst nor fatigue nor hunger will touch them on the path of God” (9:119).
What is “the path of God” (sabīlu’llāh)? In the ziyārah Jāmi‘a Kabīrah (“The Great Assembly”) we read:
“You (Ahl al-Bayt) are the greatest path, the most righteous way” Such is your cause!
“Does He not record their righteous deeds?”
Such is the reward of your undertaking.
