The twenty-third story was about, dispersing the Arabs of “Unaizah” from the way of pilgrims, by His Excellency.
This story was verbally narrated to me by the master of Faqīhs, the mainstay of scholars, the divine scholar, the great Mr. Sayyid Mahdī Qazwīnī, who lived in Hillah.
He stated, ‘Once, I came out of Hillah on the midnight of 14th of Shaʾban, to visit [Holy Shrine of] the Excellency Abū ʿAbd Allāh (pbuh). When we reached to Al-Hindiyya river, crossed it and went to the western side, I saw pilgrims who had left Hillah and its surroundings, and pilgrims who had come from Najaf Ashraf and its surroundings. They all were restricted in the houses of the Bani Turuf tribe, of the Hindiyya nomads.
There was no way, they could go to Karbalā; since the tribe of ʿUnaizah had blocked the way and inhibited people passing through the road!
they didn’t let anyone get out of Karbalā, or enter there! And if so, they would plunder and loot him/ her.
However, he continued, ‘Well, when I saw an Arab, I dismounted and prayed Noon and Afternoon Prayer. I sat there, waiting to see what would happen to the pilgrims! There sky was cloudy and it rained little by little.
As we were sitting, we saw all the pilgrims got out of the houses and headed to Karbalā! So, I asked the one who was with me, ‘Go and ask what has happened.’ He went out and when he returned, he told me, ‘Bani Turuf tribe came out with guns and pledged to bring the pilgrims to Karbalā, even if they had to fight with Unayzah.
When I heard it, I expressed, ‘They were with me; these words are absurd! It’s because, Bani Turuf isn’t too powerful to fight with Unaizah! I suppose it’s their trick to get the pilgrims out of their houses. Well, they cannot stand having the pilgrims in their houses anymore and entertain them.
While we were talking, the pilgrims went back toward their houses. But they didn’t enter there and sat in the shade! It showed that I told the truth!
However, the sky was became cloudy. There, I felt pity for them and my heat ached for them so much! So, I pleaded The Almighty God in prayer and also I intercede the Prophet (pbuh&h) and asked him to relieve the pilgrims from the calamity they suffered. Meanwhile, I saw a rider coming to us. His horse was as nice as a deer, I haven’t ever seen like that before!
The rider had a long spear in his hand, he had rolled up his sleeves and ran the horse until he stopped near the house where I was. And it was a house of hair with its surroundings raised. He greeted us and we returned his greeting. He said, ‘O, Sir [he called me]!
The ones who sent me to you and sent regard to you, are Kunj Muḥammad Aqā and Ṣafar Aqā. They are both of officiaries in the Ottoman army. They say, ‘the pilgrims are welcome! We have rejected Unaizah! We are looking forward to the pilgrims with our soldiers on the Sulaymaniyah Hill, on the road.
I told him, ‘Will you come with us to the back of Sulaymaniyah?’ He replied, ‘Yes!’ Then, I took my watch out of my pocket, and saw there were nearly 2 hours and half left until dawn. So I ordered them to prepare my horse. There, that Bedouin Arab whom we stayed in his house begged me, ‘O, my Mawlā! Don’t put yourself and pilgrims at risk!’ Stay with us tonight until we see what happens in the morning!’
I reacted, ‘We have to mount our horses and keep riding, because of performing the Special Pilgrimage’. However, when the pilgrims saw that we mounted our horses, the passengers on foot and horseback were coming behind us. In this way, we kept riding and that rider was ridding further than us as brave as a lion in the forest! We were following him up to the back of Sulaymaniyah.
Then, the rider rode our horses till we reached there, and we followed him again. He rode down up to behind, after that. And we followed him [for the third time]. But, as we looked around, we saw no trace of him, as if he had ascended to the sky or sunk into the earth! Yes, we saw neither the head of the army nor the army!
There, I wondered, ‘Do you also suppose that he might be Sāhib al Amr (mGehr)?!’ They reacted, ‘No, by God!’
Well, while he was ahead of us, I was pondering whether I had seen him before or nor!’ But, I didn’t remember if I had seen him before or not! Anyhow, when I lost him [I didn’t see him anymore], I realized he was the one [that honorable man] who had come to our house!
And he had informed me of the events of Sulaymaniyyah.
As for Unaizah clan, I didn’t see any of them in their houses. Also, we didn’t see any one else whom we can ask our question! The only thing was heavy dust, rising from the middle of the desert. As we reached Karbalā our horses took us forward very fast!
When we reached the city gate, we saw an army who was standing over the castle. There, they told us, ‘Praise be to God! The desert has become full of the pilgrims! What about Unaizah, where did they go?!
I reacted, ‘you’d better go to your country and mind your own business!’ And I kept on:
لِمَكَّةَ رَبُّ يَرْعاھا
Mecca [Allah] has a Lord who takes care of it!
These words were connoted by Abd al Muṭṭalib when he was approaching Abyssinia [Ethiopia], in order to retrieve her camels. There, the army took him to the king. He wondered, ‘Why didn’t you request me to free your camel?’ Abd al Muṭṭalib reacted, ‘I request the Lord of Mecca…’
Anyhow, we entered Mecca and we saw a man was sitting on a bed in the corner near the gate. So I greeted him and he stood up to respect me. There I told him, ‘You have enough honor that you know our language!’
He wondered, ‘What is the matter?!’ And I explained it to him. There he replied:
‘O, my lord! How was I supposed to know that you were pilgrimaging? If I had known that, I would have sent a messenger for you. The army and I have been trapped in this town for fifteen days, unable to leave for fear of Unaizah! Then he asked,
He wondered, ‘Where did the People of Unaizah go?!’ I said, ‘I don’t know! Just I saw thick dust in the middle of desert; it was seemingly because they left there.’ Then, I took out my watch and saw that, it was one hour and half to the noon. Our whole journey took just one hour! The distance between the houses of Bani Turuf tribe and Karbalā was three Farsakh. So, we stayed in Karbalā.
In the morning, we asked about Unaizah and some of the farmers who were in gardens of Karbalā told some news about them. They said that, they saw the people of Unaizah were staying in their houses and tents.
All of a sudden, a rider appeared, on a beautiful fat horse. He had a long spear in his hand and called them in a loud voice:
O, people of Unaizah! In fact, the death of one of these people has come! The army of ‘Uthmanī is coming towards you along with their riders and infantries; they were coming right behind me. So, leave here! I don’t think you can be saved anymore.
In this way, God brought humiliation and fear upon them. They escaped in such a hurry that they left their belongings there and left! Well, within an hour they left and headed for the desert. There, I asked a man, ‘Describe the rider’s features!’ As he described the features, he was the very rider who was with us!
والحمد الله ربّ العالمین والصلوه علی محّمد وآله الطّاهرین
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, and blessings be upon Muhammad and his pure family.
The author (Muḥadith Nurī) said:
The late Sayyid were likely to do types of Kirāmahs and dignities; since, he had inherited both knowledge and action by his dignified great uncle, the preceding Sir Sayyid Bāqir who wrote “the secrets”[1]. And both his Khāl “the Sir Baḥr al Ulūm (mAes)”[2] and his dear uncle raised him. They also made him aware of the Unseen and secrets up to the rank, which cannot be contained in thoughts. He was so much virtuous and nobilities that no one among worthy scholars.
First: After the late moved from Najaf e-Ashraf to Ḥillah, stayed there, started guiding the people, revealing Right and forbidding wrong due to his blessing invitation in Hillah and out of it, more than one hundred thousand of Arab became sincere Shiites who believed in 12 infallible Imāms (pbu th). In addition, he healed me (the poor one) many times miraculously.
When I went to Hillah, I saw the Shiites who were there, didn’t behave based on Imāmiyyah and Shiˈa Rituals except carrying their corpse to Najaf Ashraf. Moreover, they didn’t know other Shi’a laws or about Shi’a works and didn’t act based on them! They even didn’t know that, they were expected to get away from Allah’s enemies!
Anyhow, because of this guidance, all of them turned to worthy and righteous ones. And this is a great virtue which is of his features.
Second:
There were many spiritual features and noble human qualities in the Sir such as patience, piety, satisfaction, tolerance in hardship of [that much] worshipping, spiritual silence, being busy with reciting dhikr to The Almighty God. Also, he never asked his household, children, servants to bring him [many] things like foods (lunch or dinner), coffee, tea, or Hubble Bubble in the usual time! It was although, he was famous, powerful, wealthy, fortune, Ubayd al Māʼ[3].
And when they were not meticulous, and careful to put everything in its order or do the things in the proper time, he wouldn’t remind them, even after a day and night.
Moreover, he used to accept the invitations and attended in giving Walīma[4] and holding parties. But he would take some books and sit in a corner and write, so he didn’t hear what the people in the party! When they ask something, he would reply.
During Ramadhan month, he would pray one thousand Rak’as, if possible. Then, he came home, he would break the fast and return to the mosque again, and pray Ishāʼ. After that, he used to come home; then, the people would gather around him.
At first, a good-sounding Qur’an reciter with a Quranic tone, recited verses from the Qur’an that pointed to advice, torture, threats, and intimidation; in a way that, it softened the hearts of the oppressed and moistened the eyes [by tears].
Then, the next one would read a sermon of Nahj al Balāghah in the same way, the third one would recite the calamities of Abi Abdullâh al- Huṣayn (pbuh). After that, one of the righteous would read start reciting the Duās of the Blessed Month[5], while others were repeat what he recited, until it was the time for eating predawn meal. Finally, everyone would go home.
Although he was very old, he was a true and spiritual proof in his time; due to his complete monitoring and maintaining praying times, all the optional prayers, traditions, and recitations.
Anyway, I was with the late Sir on both the journey to and from Hajj. We prayed in Qadīr and Juhfah mosques. [Unfortunately] five Farsakhs from Samāwah, he answered the call of God on the 12th of Rabiʽ al-Awwal, 1300AH. He was buried in Najaf Ashraf, next to the grave of his honorable uncle. They built a great dome on his grave.
During his funeral, he appeared when a large number of friends and the opposite were present, because of his strong faith, reassurance, acceptance, and certainty of truth which shocked all the people. So, his clear Kirāmah was proved for everyone.
Third: He had excellent works on Usūl[6], Fīqh, Monotheism, Imāmate and Theology. One of his books is about “The Stability of Shia, as the Salvation Sect”, which is of precious books.
طُوبى لَهُ وَ حُسْنُ مَآبٍ 151
Blessed is he and a good place to return!
- Khāl is the uncle on the mother’s side.
- May Allah elevate their status.
- In Arabic fictions, they assumed that there was a creature who had two hands and legs and a face like human but his body was very powerful and had black face. He was amphibian too. As in Arabic “Ma” means water, they called him “Ubayd al Ma”
- It is a meal that is held on the occasion of returning from the Hajj pilgrimage, a wedding, the birth of a child, and the like. Sometimes the food served at these parties is called a Walīma. It is recommended to give a Walīma and also to accept an invitation to a Walīma. In the narrations, giving a Walīma is recommended in five cases: a wedding, the birth of a child, circumcision, buying a house, and returning from the Hajj. Also, a Walīma to which only the rich are invited is condemned.
- Ramadhan is called the blessed month, because it has been called so in many narrations. It also purifies the soul.
- The name of one of the Islamic sciences that examines the method of deducing religious rulings. In this science, the correct method of arriving at religious rulings is examined using narrative and rational evidence.