Words of Imam Sajjad(A.S.) before Asmai

Words of Imam Sajjad(A.S.) before Asmai

By: Ayatullah Shaheed Syed Abdul Husayn Dastaghaib ShiraziThey have quoted from Asmai: Once, in the Masjidul Haram (Great Mosque of Mecca), I heard a heart-rending voice. I went near the Ka’ba and saw that, in Hajre Ismail, my master, Imam Sajjad was weeping deep-heartedly holding the curtain of Ka’ba. He was praying:O the One Who answers the supplications of the helpless in the dark nights – O the One Who wards off all restlessness – Your guests are asleep around Your House. Only You are awake, You never sleep – O the Eternal Self-existent, Who never sleeps…Then his voice felt silent. After a few moments he again began to recite these heart-rending stanzas: O Lord! Who is more guilty than me? Who is more denigrated than me? Which of the servants committed more crimes than me? O God! Will You, after all burn me in the fire? Then what will happen to my hopes? What about my fear? You Yourself have promised that You will not disappoint one who puts faith in You and who hopes from You. I hope that You will forgive me. Your pardon is the object of my hopes.Asmai says: Then I did not hear my master’s voice. I went near him and found that he is Zainul Abideen Ali Ibnul Husain; and that he had fainted. I placed his holy head in my lap. My tears fell on his radiant face. He opened his eyes and asked, "Who is it?" I said, "It is Asmai, your slave. O my master! Your honor! And so much weeping and wailing! You are so pious, so chaste and faultless. Your grandfathers are the intercessors. O my master! You belong to the family about whose purity God sent the Verse of purification." When I said this, the master said, "Leave these things please. Don’t you know that God has created Paradise for everyone who worships Him, anyone who is righteous, be he or she even a black slave. Hell is also created by God for every sinner even if he belongs to the noblest of tribes on earth.The noblest is Quraish. The Messenger of the last era Muhammad also belongs to this tribe of Quraish. These races and lineages are of no importance. Do not say: I am a Sayyid. Be whatever you are. Yes, a good tiding has come for a Sayyid Fatimid, provided his lineage is correct and, finally, he dies with repentance. On the Day of Judgment, intercession first reaches the Sayyids but not if their deeds are bad. It is not like that. In Islamic laws there are no exceptions. Every rule that is for the common people is also for the Sayyids. There is no difference. Just as a common man should pay Zakat and Khums so also should a Sayyid. It is so about every obligatory duty also, as well as about the prohibited misdeeds.If a Sayyid, God forbid, indulged in adultery, he will not be differentiated from others. He will also be given a hundred lashes, not that, as he is a Sayyid, there should be some leniency. There is no difference in the commandments of Allah. In short, Imam Sajjad said, "Leave me alone. Hell has been created for every sinner even if he is a Quraishite and belongs to the noblest lineage on earth."Thereafter he recited this holy verse: Tomorrow, on the Day of Judgment, no one will be asked: Whose son are you? In the Highest Court of God, there is no place for such questioning. They will not ask who your parents were? Did you belong to a noble family or a common one? These things belong to this world. These are mere delusions. The questioning there will be: Who is your God? Who is your deity? Whom did you worship? Whose word did you accept? Which religion you followed? Who was your Imam? Ali, Hasan, Husain…the Husain! Since you remembered them all your life, it is hoped that the one whom you remembered will come to your help.O you men! Surely, We have created you of a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other; surely the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); surely Allah is Knowing, Aware. The dwellers of the desert say: We believe. Say: You do not believe but say, We submit; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts; and if you obey Allah and His Apostle, He will not diminish aught of your deeds; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (49:13-14)"We created you from one man and one woman, that is, Adam and Eve. So you are not different from one another.These differences, which are about branches and families are for recognition so that man, in social living and dealings with one another may not fall in doubts. When there is no proper recognition, it makes things difficult. So the distinction or variations, which God has made about tribes and sections etc. are for recognition, not for taking pride in them. The Arabs say: We are Arabs, where we and where the non-Arabs? Or the non-Arab retorts: We are non-Arabs, we are higher. Both are wrong.﴿

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

﴾"Surely, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); (49:13)"That which you are taking as measure or criterion, for example, being Arab or belonging to such and such tribe, all that is wrong. In fact, the true criterion is righteousness or piety.

All are from same father and motherSome commentators of Qur’an have shown another probability that "of a male and a female" refers to every person, not to all. Both are right as they mean Adam and Eve. However, more probable seems that "We created each and everyone of you from one father and one mother". All of you are, from this angle, equal and like one another. There is no difference between you. To make it clearer: Be you an Arab or non-Arab, be a Lor or a Turk, a villager or a city-dweller.Be whatever you like either a disbeliever or a believer, doubtlessly you have been ejected from passages of urine. Keep aside all pride and prejudice. One who has passed through this unclean path, how can he take pride in himself? Where is ‘my honor’, ‘my family’, ‘my relatives’, ‘my lineage’? Perhaps what the holy verse hints at is that one should never be proud. Just think from where you have arrived?It is mentioned in Usul al-Kafi that Imam Zainul Abideen said, "Strange is a man who is proud and thinks oneself high and claims to be honorable and respectable whereas yesterday he was semen and tomorrow, when he dies, he is to be a foul-smelling corpse!"

Nocturnal emission reminds one of his originsThe late Haji Noori has, in the first part of Darus Salam, mentioned sixteen benefits of the dream. One of them is nocturnal emission. Another benefit is getting harmful substance out of the body, which keeps the physique safe, because, if it remains in the body it is likely to result in illness and trouble. When he awakes, he smells that foul odor which reminds him of his initial state. How strange! Was I like this in the beginning? Had it been so that a man may not have ejaculation and was the semen to reach the womb directly, without being shed out, he might have hardly looked at himself.Almighty God, through His far-reaching wisdom and strategy, ordained it so that, sometimes, the semen should, unintentionally drop on man’s clothes so that you may remember your initial state of being. Leave aside all pride. The foul smell which you now smell is you yourself. Was it otherwise? At first he was a foul-smelling semen and at the end? Even if his grave is opened after a hundred years, nothing is seen except dust. Had it not become dust he would still be giving out terribly foul smell. What are you but a handful of dust? Finally only dust. The holy Imam says, "Fist semen and finally a corpse. Of what one is to take pride in?" Say: Wealth is ignorance. It is really so, wealth is indeed ignorance. If one reaches the truth he never takes pride in lineage, wealth and beauty.O poor woman who is proud of your beauty! A single microbe of malaria can change your face. This beauty is borrowed or artificial. Do not be deceived. Look at its end. Pride in wealth and possessions is also same. However wealthy you may become, you will not be wealthier than Qarun. Many strong men could with much difficulty lift the keys of his treasure (not the treasure itself).﴿

إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَى فَبَغَى عَلَيْهِمْ، وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنْ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ

﴾"Surely, Qarun was of the people of Musa, but he rebelled against them, and We had given him of the treasures, so much so that his hoards of wealth would certainly weigh down a company of men possessed of great strength."How vast what his treasure? What happened to Qarun’s wealth?﴿

فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِ وَبِدَارِهِ الأَرْضَ

﴾"Thus, We made the earth to swallow up him and his abode…"He went down in the earth himself along with the wealth as if it was nothing at all. Now what about the property about which you say that it is my property, it is my park, my machinery? Greatness of man is due to his God-worship and righteousness. If man reaches the station of God-worship and, in fact, becomes Abdullah (God’s servant) there is every grace in his wealth.Such a grace, which will never end. O the one who wants to attain real grace; be a slave of God. This is grace, greatness and real honor. The pride of Ali bin Abi Talib was only that he was the slave of the Lord of the worlds. Slave and servant of God Almighty. No other state can ever be imagined to be higher than it. This is the capital of grace. The one who is