In His Name, the Most High
سَلامٌ عَلَى آلِ يس
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا دَاعِيَ اللَّهِ وَرَبَّانِيَّ آيَاتِهِ
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا بَابَ اللَّهِ وَدَيَّانَ دِينِهِ
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا خَلِيفَةَ اللَّهِ وَنَاصِرَ حَقِّهِ
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا حُجَّةَ اللَّهِ وَدَلِيلَ إِرَادَتِهِ
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا تَالِيَ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَتَرْجُمَانَهُ
Peace be upon the House of Yā-Sīn.
Peace be upon you, O caller of God, O one made divinely learned in His signs.
Peace be upon you, O gate of God, O judge of His religion.
Peace be upon you, O vicegerent of God, O helper of His truth.
Peace be upon you, O proof of God, O evidence of what He wills.
Peace be upon you, O reciter of the Book of God — and its interpreter.
— Excerpt from Ziyārat Āl-e Yāsīn
The Voice of the Awaited One
This maqtal is spoken, as every maqtal of various is spoken, in the voice of the Awaited Imam — the Mahdi, the son of Hasan, may our souls be his ransom and may God hasten his return — looking back across the veils of his long absence.
And he is not negligent of attending to us, and he is not forgetful of remembering him, therefore we too should not forget him.
Voiced in the series’ Mahdi-Maqtal-Voice — an imagining of the Awaited Imam’s voice, rendered in clear English by the means of our age, belonging to no living man.
The Maqtal — “A Son Who Wished Us Well”
I. A Name Hardly Spoken
There is a name that is hardly ever spoken from the pulpits.
Tonight I want you to hear it.Muhammad, the son of Abu Bakr.
He grew up in the house of my forefather, Amir al-Mu’minin.
And my forefather said of him: he was dear to me, and I had raised him.When my forefather gave him Egypt, he wrote him a letter — and told him to read it to the people of Egypt, and to act on what it asked of him.
It told him that he had been given the greatest of all his forces, in his eyes: the people of Egypt.
It told him that if he could keep from angering his Lord to please any one of His creatures, he should — for in God there is a replacement for everything else, and nothing else can replace Him.
And it told the people of Egypt to stand well by Muhammad, their governor.
One man, carrying his Imam’s word to a country, to read it aloud.
II. The Ruin by the Road
Then an army came against him.
And when the news came that Kinana, at the head of his vanguard, had been killed, Muhammad’s companions scattered from him — until not one of them was left with him.
So he went out on foot, along the road, until he came to a ruin at the side of it.
And there he took shelter.The man hunting him came to some labourers at the side of the road, and asked whether anyone had passed them whom they did not know.
One of them said: I went into that ruin, and there was a man sitting in it.
And the man hunting him, and those with him, ran to it, and brought him out.He was almost dead of thirst.
III. Water
He asked them for water, and the one who held him refused it.
And he answered him that this was not his to decide.
It belongs to God — who gives His friends to drink.Then the one who held him told him what he meant to do: to put him inside the belly of a donkey, and burn it over him.
And Muhammad answered: if you do that, it has long been done to the friends of God.
And I hope that God will make this fire cool and safe for me, as He made it for His friend Abraham.Then the one who held him killed him, and threw him into the carcass of a donkey, and burned it.
It was the year thirty-eight.
IV. Those Who Grieved Him
His mother, Asma’, when the news reached her of her son, and of what had been done to him, rose and went to the place where she prayed.
And she held down her anguish — until she bled.The news reached my forefather, Amir al-Mu’minin.
He had called the people to go to Muhammad’s aid, before it happened.
He had called them in secret and in the open, again and again.Some came unwillingly.
Some made false excuses.
And some sat back, and abandoned him.And then he wrote: Egypt has been taken, and Muhammad, the son of Abu Bakr, may God have mercy on him, has been martyred.
With God we reckon him — a son who wished us well, a worker who toiled, a cutting sword, a pillar of defence.And he said: our grief for him is as great as their joy at it — except that they have lost one they hated, and we have lost one we loved.
V. What Could Not Be Burned
He left a son, al-Qasim.
His sister took his family into her care — and al-Qasim among them.And al-Qasim grew up to be one of the trusted ones of my forefather, Ali, the son of al-Husayn.
Al-Qasim’s daughter, Umm Farwa, became the mother of my forefather, Ja’far.
And her son said of her: my mother was among those who believed, and were mindful of God, and did good.He was burned in the carcass of a donkey, in Egypt — as though that were the end of him.
The words this gathering reads every week, from The Lantern of the Path, come down to you in the name of his great-grandson.
And his blood runs in me.
A letter can be copied in a minute.
The one who carries it cannot.
I was not there — but I remember.
And I am not gone.
May our Lord hasten my return.
Pray ardently for my return.
Pray ardently for my return.
Sources Cited
Every report the maqtal narrates is carried here — the original, and its translation — so that the reader can check it. Where our copy is not yet of a quality to cite, it says so.
1 · He was dear to me, and I had raised him
The original, and its translation:
وَقَدْ أَرَدْتُ تَوْلِيَةَ مِصْرَ هَاشِمَ بْنَ عُتْبَةَ، وَلَوْ وَلَّيْتُهُ إِيَّاهَا لَما خَلَّى لَهُمُ الْعَرْصَةَ، وَلاَ أَنْهَزَهُمُ الْفُرْصَةَ، بَلاَ ذَمٍّ لِمحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبي بَكْر، فَلَقَدْ كَانَ إِلَيَّ حَبِيباً، وَكَانَ لي رَبِيباً.
“I had wanted to give Egypt to Hashim ibn ‘Utba — and had I given it to him, he would not have left the field open to them, nor let them seize their chance. This is no blame on Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr: he was dear to me, and I had raised him.”
— Amir al-Mu’minin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace and blessings be upon him; Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 68; my translation
2 · The letter to Egypt
The original, and its translation:
3 - قال: أخبرني أبو الحسن علي بن محمد بن حبيش الكاتب قال: أخبرني الحسن بن علي الزعفراني قال: أخبرني أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن محمد الثقفي قال: حدثنا عبد الله بن محمد بن عثمان قال: حدثنا علي بن محمد بن أبي سعيد ، عن فضيل بن الجعد، عن أبي إسحاق الهمداني قال: لما ولي أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب عليه الصلاة والسلام محمد بن أبي بكر مصر وأعمالها كتب له كتابا، وأمره أن يقرأه على أهل مصر وليعمل بما وصاه به فيه فكان الكتاب: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم من عبد الله أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب إلى أهل مصر ومحمد بن أبي بكر: سلام عليكم فإني أحمد إليكم الله الذي لا إله إلا هو.
“He said: Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Hubaysh al-Katib told me; he said: al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Za’farani told me; he said: Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Thaqafi told me; he said: Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman narrated to us; he said: Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sa’id narrated to us, from Fudayl ibn al-Ja’d, from Abu Ishaq al-Hamdani, who said: When Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, God’s blessings and peace be upon him, appointed Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr over Egypt and its provinces, he wrote him a letter, and told him to read it to the people of Egypt and to act on what he enjoined on him in it. And the letter was: In the name of God, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful. From the servant of God, Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, to the people of Egypt and to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr: peace be upon you. I praise to you God, besides whom there is no god.”
ثم اعلم يا محمد بن أبي بكر إني قد وليتك أعظم أجنادي في نفسي: أهل مصر، فإذا وليتك ما وليتك من أمر الناس فأنت حقيق أن تخاف منه على نفسك، وأن تحذر منه على دينك، فإن استطعت أن لا تسخط ربك عز وجل برضا أحد من خلقه فافعل، فإن في الله عز وجل خلفا من غيره، وليس في شئ سواه خلف منه.
“Then know, O Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, that I have given you charge of the greatest of my forces in my own eyes: the people of Egypt. And since I have given you charge over people, you are right to fear for yourself from it, and to be wary for your religion from it. If you are able not to anger your Lord, Mighty and Majestic, to please any one of His creatures, then do so — for in God, Mighty and Majestic, there is a replacement for anything else, and in nothing besides Him is there a replacement for Him.”
أحسنوا أهل مصر مؤازرة محمد أميركم، واثبتوا على طاعتكم تردوا حوض نبيكم صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، أعاننا الله وإياكم على ما يرضيه، والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته.
“People of Egypt, stand well by Muhammad, your governor, and hold firm in your obedience — you will come to the Pool of your Prophet, God bless him and his family and grant them peace. May God help us and you to what pleases Him. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessings.”
— Amir al-Mu’minin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace and blessings be upon him; Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Amali, hadith 3 of its assembly — the opening, and the two sentences narrated, of a long letter; my translation
3 · The ruin by the road
The original, and its translation:
قال: فانتدب معه نحو من الفي رجل، وخرج محمد في الفي رجل، واستقبل عمرو بن العاص كنانة وهو على مقدمة محمد، فأقبل عمرو نحو كنانة، فلما دنا من كنانة سرح الكتاب كتيبة بعد كتيبة، فجعل كنانة لا تأتيه كتيبة من كتاب أهل الشام إلا شد عليها بمن معه، فيضربها حتى يقربها لعمرو بن العاص. ففعل ذلك مراراً، فلما رأى ذلك عمرو بعث إلى معاوية بن حديج السكوني، فأتاه في مثل الدهم، فأحاط بكنانة وأصحابه، واجتمع أهل الشام عليهم من كل جانب، فلما رأى ذلك كنانة بن بشر نزل عن فرسه. ونزل أصحابه وكنانة يقول: ﴿وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَن تَمُوتَ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ كِتَابًا مُّؤَجَّلًا وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الْآخِرَةِ نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَسَنَجْزِي الشَّاكِرِينَ﴾. فضاربهم بسيفه حتى استشهد رحمه الله.
“He said: about two thousand men volunteered to go with him, and Muhammad went out with two thousand men. ‘Amr ibn al-’As met Kinana, who was at the head of Muhammad’s vanguard; ‘Amr advanced on Kinana, and when he drew near him he sent out his squadrons, one squadron after another — and no squadron of the people of Syria came at Kinana but he charged it with those who were with him, and struck at it until he drove it back towards ‘Amr ibn al-’As. He did this again and again. When ‘Amr saw that, he sent to Mu’awiya ibn Hudayj al-Sakuni, who came to him like a dark flood; and he surrounded Kinana and his companions, and the people of Syria gathered against them from every side. When Kinana ibn Bishr saw that, he dismounted from his horse, and his companions dismounted, Kinana saying: No soul may die except by God’s leave, at a time written and fixed; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him of it, and We will reward the grateful. And he fought them with his sword until he was martyred, may God have mercy on him.”
— al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk, the events of the year thirty-eight; my translation. The verse is Qur’an 3:145, as the text gives it.
وأقبل عمرو بن العاص نحو محمد بن أبي بكر، وقد تفرق عنه أصحابه لما بلغهم قتل كنانة، حتى بقي وما معه أحد من أصحابه. فلما رأى ذلك محمد خرج يمشي في الطريق حتى انتهى إلى خربة في ناحية الطريق، فأوى إليها، وجاء عمرو بن العاص حتى دخل الفسطاط، وخرج معاوية بن حديج في طلب محمد حتى انتهى إلى علوج في قارعة الطريق، فسألهم: هل مر بكم أحد تنكرونه؟ فقال أحدهم: لا والله، إلا أنني دخلت تلك الخربة، فإذا أنا برجل فيها جالس، فقال ابن حديج: هو هو ورب الكعبة، فانطلقوا يركضون حتى دخلوا عليه، فاستخرجوه وقد كاد يموت عطشاً، فأقبلوا نحو فسطاط مصر.
“And ‘Amr ibn al-’As advanced towards Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. His companions had scattered from him when the news of Kinana’s killing reached them, until he was left with not one of his companions with him. When Muhammad saw that, he went out walking along the road until he came to a ruin at the side of the road, and took shelter in it. ‘Amr ibn al-’As came on until he entered al-Fustat; and Mu’awiya ibn Hudayj went out in search of Muhammad, until he came to some labourers at the side of the road, and asked them: has anyone passed you whom you did not know? One of them said: no, by God — except that I went into that ruin, and there was a man sitting in it. Ibn Hudayj said: it is him, by the Lord of the Ka’ba. And they set off running until they came in on him, and brought him out — and he was almost dead of thirst. And they made for al-Fustat of Egypt.”
— al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk, the events of the year thirty-eight; my translation
4 · Water
The source:
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk, the events of the year thirty-eight: he asks them for water; Mu’awiya ibn Hudayj refuses him; and he answers that this is not for him, nor for those he named, to decide — it belongs to God, who gives His friends to drink and keeps His enemies thirsty. (Read on the rendered page, the page number, 880, is printed at its head. The exchange between them over the third caliph, on the same page, is not narrated.) The original text: read in our systems — quality inadequate for citing — will be updated in the future.
5 · The fire
The original, and its translation:
قال له معاوية: أتدري ما أصنع بك؟ أدخلك في جوف حمار، ثم أحرقه عليك بالنار، فقال له محمد: إن فعلتم بي ذلك، فطالما فعل ذلك بأولياء الله! وإني لأرجو هذه النار التي تحرقني بها أن يجعلها الله علي برداً وسلاماً كما جعلها على خليله إبراهيم، وأن يجعلها عليك وعلى أوليائك كما جعلها على نمروذ وأوليائه، إن الله يحرقك ومن ذكرته قبل وإمامك - يعني معاوية، وهذا - وأشار إلى عمرو بن العاص - بنار تلظي عليكم، كلما خبت زادها الله سعيراً.
“Mu’awiya said to him: do you know what I will do with you? I will put you inside the belly of a donkey, and then burn it over you with fire. Muhammad said to him: if you do that to me — it has long been done to the friends of God! And I hope that this fire you burn me with, God will make cool and safe for me, as He made it for His friend Abraham — and that He will make it upon you and your allies as He made it upon Nimrod and his allies. God will burn you, and the one you named before, and your imam — meaning Mu’awiya — and this one — and he pointed to ‘Amr ibn al-’As — with a fire that blazes over you: whenever it dies down, God increases its flame.”
قال: فغضب معاوية فقدمه فقتله، ثم ألقاه في جيفة حمار، ثم أحرقه بالنار، فلما بلغ ذلك عائشة جزعت عليه جزعاً شديداً، وقنتت عليه دبر الصلاة تدعو على معاوية وعمرو، ثم قبضت عيال محمد إليها، فكان القاسم بن محمد بن أبي بكر في عيالها.
“He said: Mu’awiya grew angry, brought him forward and killed him; then he threw him into the carcass of a donkey, and then burned it with fire. When that reached ‘A’isha [his sister], she grieved for him with a great grief, and prayed against Mu’awiya and ‘Amr at the end of the prayer; then she took Muhammad’s children into her own care, and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was among her household.”
قال الواقدي: وكانت المسناة في صفر سنة ثمان وثلاثين، وأذرح في شعبان منها في عام واحد.
“Al-Waqidi said: and al-Musannat [the battle in Egypt] was in Safar of the year thirty-eight, and Adhruh in Sha’ban of it — in the one year.”
— al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk, the events of the year thirty-eight, in the account of Abu Mikhnaf and, for the date, al-Waqidi’s; my translation. Where the text says simply “Mu’awiya” — he speaks to him, grows angry, kills him — it is Mu’awiya ibn Hudayj, the commander who held him; “your imam — meaning Mu’awiya” is the governor of Syria; in ‘A’isha’s prayer, which Mu’awiya is meant the text does not say.
His words point to the verse; here it is:
قُلۡنَا يَٰنَارُ كُونِي بَرۡدٗا وَسَلَٰمًا عَلَىٰٓ إِبۡرَٰهِيمَ
“We said, ‘O fire! Be cool and safe for Abraham!’”
— Qur’an, Surah al-Anbiya (the Chapter of the Prophets) #21, Verse 69 — translation of Ali Quli Qarai
6 · His mother
The source:
Ibn Abi al-Hadid, Sharh Nahj al-Balagha, Volume 6, page 88, from al-Thaqafi’s al-Gharat. Asma’ bint ‘Umays, when the news reached her of her son Muhammad and of what had been done to him, rose and went to her place of prayer, and held down her anguish until she bled. The original text: read in our systems — quality inadequate for citing — will be updated in the future.
7 · What Amir al-Mu’minin wrote, and said
The original, and its translation:
أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ مِصْرَ قَدِ افْتُتِحَتْ، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ رَحِمَهُ اللهُ قَدِ اسْتُشْهِدَ، فَعِنْدَ اللهِ نَحْتَسِبُهُ، وَلَداً نَاصِحاً، وَعَامِلًا كَادِحاً، وَسَيْفاً قَاطِعاً، وَرُكْناً دَافِعاً. وَقَدْ كُنْتُ حَثَثْتُ النَّاسَ عَلَى لَحَاقِهِ، وَأَمَرْتُهُمْ بِغِيَاثِهِ قَبْلَ الْوَقْعَةِ، وَدَعَوْتُهُمْ سِرّاً وَجَهْراً، وَعَوْداً وَبَدْءاً، فَمِنْهُمُ الْآتِي كَارِهاً، وَمِنْهُمُ الْمُعْتَلُّ كَاذِباً، وَمِنْهُمُ الْقَاعِدُ خَاذِلًا.
“Now then: Egypt has been taken, and Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, may God have mercy on him, has been martyred. With God we reckon him — a son who wished us well, a worker who toiled, a cutting sword, and a pillar of defence. I had urged the people to go and join him, and ordered them to come to his aid before the battle; I called them in secret and in the open, again and again. Some of them came unwillingly; some made excuses, lying; and some sat back, abandoning him.”
— Amir al-Mu’minin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace and blessings be upon him; Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 35; my translation
٣٢٥. وَقَالَ (عليه السلام) لَمَّا بَلَغَهُ قَتْلُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ: إِنَّ حُزْنَنَا عَلَيْهِ عَلَى قَدْرِ سُرُورِهِمْ بِهِ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُمْ نَقَصُوا بَغِيضاً، وَنَقَصْنَا حَبِيباً.
“325. And he said, peace be upon him, when the killing of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr reached him: our grief for him is as great as their joy at it — except that they have lost one they hated, and we have lost one we loved.”
— Amir al-Mu’minin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace and blessings be upon him; Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 325; my translation
8 · The honey — no longer narrated
Malik al-Ashtar was sent while Muhammad still held Egypt (Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 34; al-Tabari), so the report cannot follow his killing — and it has a host, not a road. Kept here for the record, should it be placed again.
The original, and its translation:
فنزل عليه الأشتر، فأقام له ولأصحابه بما احتاجوا إليه، وحمل إليه طعاما دس في جملته عسلا جعل فيه سما، فلما شربه الأشتر قتله ومات من ذلك.
“So al-Ashtar stopped with him [his host], and he provided him and his companions with what they needed; and he brought him food, among which he had slipped honey with poison put in it. And when al-Ashtar drank it, it killed him, and he died of it.”
— Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Amali, hadith 95, in the report of Amir al-Mu’minin sending Malik al-Ashtar to Egypt; my translation
9 · al-Qasim, and Umm Farwa
The original, and its translation:
1ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الله بْنِ أَحْمَدَ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي وَهْبُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ جَرِيرٍ قَالَ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) كَانَ سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْمُسَيَّبِ وَالْقَاسِمُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَأَبُو خَالِدٍ الْكَابُلِيُّ مِنْ ثِقَاتِ عَلِيِّ بن الحسين (عَلَيْهما السَّلام) قَالَ وَكَانَتْ أُمِّي مِمَّنْ آمَنَتْ وَاتَّقَتْ وَأَحْسَنَتْ وَالله يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ قَالَ وَقَالَتْ أُمِّي قَالَ أَبِي يَا أُمَّ فَرْوَةَ إِنِّي لادْعُو الله لِمُذْنِبِي شِيعَتِنَا فِي الْيَوْمِ وَاللَّيْلَةِ أَلْفَ مَرَّةٍ لانَّا نَحْنُ فِيمَا يَنُوبُنَا مِنَ الرَّزَايَا نَصْبِرُ عَلَى مَا نَعْلَمُ مِنَ الثَّوَابِ وَهُمْ يَصْبِرُونَ عَلَى مَا لا يَعْلَمُونَ.
“1 — Muhammad ibn Yahya, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Abdullah ibn Ahmad, from Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan, who said: Wahb ibn Hafs narrated to me, from Ishaq ibn Jarir, who said: Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, said: Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and Abu Khalid al-Kabuli were among the trusted ones of Ali ibn al-Husayn, peace be upon them both. And he said: and my mother was among those who believed, were mindful of God, and did good — and God loves those who do good. And he said: my mother said: my father said: O Umm Farwa, I pray to God for the sinners among our followers a thousand times in a day and a night — for we, in the calamities that befall us, bear them patiently, knowing the reward, while they bear them without knowing it.”
— Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, peace and blessings be upon him; al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, Volume 1, hadith 1 of the chapter on the birth of Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him; my translation
وُلْدِ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) سَنَةَ ثَلاثٍ وَثَمَانِينَ وَمَضَى فِي شَوَّالٍ مِنْ سَنَةِ ثَمَانٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ وَمِائَةٍ وَلَهُ خَمْسٌ وَسِتُّونَ سَنَةً وَدُفِنَ بِالْبَقِيعِ فِي الْقَبْرِ الَّذِي دُفِنَ فِيهِ أَبُوهُ وَجَدُّهُ وَالْحَسَنُ بن علي (عَلَيْهما السَّلام) وَأُمُّهُ أُمُّ فَرْوَةَ بِنْتُ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَأُمُّهَا أَسْمَاءُ بِنْتُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ.
“Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, was born in the year eighty-three, and passed away in Shawwal of the year one hundred and forty-eight, at sixty-five years of age, and was buried at al-Baqi’, in the grave in which his father, his grandfather and al-Hasan ibn Ali, peace be upon them both, were buried. And his mother was Umm Farwa, daughter of al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr; and her mother was Asma’, daughter of Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr.”
— al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, Volume 1, the opening of the same chapter; my translation
10 · The Lantern of the Path
The series reads Misbah al-Shari’a, transmitted in the name of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, peace and blessings be upon him — the masthead of every write-up. View all our sessions on The Lantern of the Path at Truth Promoters.
