ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Hayat Al-Qulub, Vol. 1, Stories of the Prophets Accounts of Some Unnamed Messengers According to an authentic tradition, Amir al-Mu’minin said that the holy Prophet said: Allah appointed a Messenger for the people. He propagated to them for forty years but they did not believe in him. They used to enjoy a festival on a certain day in their house of worship.

When they assembled, there on that day their Prophet also went there and told them to Believe in only one Allah. They replied, “If you are telling the truth then ask your Allah to provide us with fruits having the color of our clothes-their clothes were yellow.” The Prophet pushed a dry piece of wood in the earth and prayed to Allah. That staff became green and bore yellow fruits. They ate the fruits.

Then miraculously what happened was that the pulp of the seeds thrown out by those whose intention was to believe became sweet and that of those who did not intend to become faithful turned bitter. It is mentioned in a reliable tradition that Imam al-Ridha said, Allah revealed to one of His Messengers that he should eat the first thing that came before him the next morning, hide the second, accept the third, not disappoint the fourth, and evade the fifth.

The Prophet proceeded from his place the next morning. First of all a big black hill came in front of him. He thought, My Lord! you have commanded me to eat it up but how? Then he pondered surely my Lord will not ask me to do a thing which I cannot do? So he walked towards that mountain, and as he advanced closer it became smaller and smaller until finally it took the form of a morsel and he devoured it. It tasted better than anything he had eaten before.

Going on further, he confronted a golden plate. He told himself, My Lord has ordered me to hide it. So he dug a pit and concealed it. After walking further, when he looked back he observed that the plate could be seen. He told himself, I have done what my Lord had instructed me do to do and therefore I am not responsible for its reappearance. After walking still further, he saw a bird followed by an eagle. The fleeing bird came to the Prophet and began to hover over him.

The Prophet thought that his Lord had enjoined upon him to accept it. Therefore, he opened up his sleeve and the bird entered it. In the meanwhile, the eagle also arrived there and said to the Prophet: You have caught my prey even though I was after it for several days.