Before long plague struck the region in the year 131 ah and all those relatives...

Before long plague struck the region in the year 131 ah and all those relatives, who used to trouble him died as a result of it.” After a period he presented himself before the Imam (a.s), who inquired: “How are your relatives?” The man replied: “All of them are dead!” The Imam (a.s) said: “They died as a result of the inconveniences that they had subjected you to; a punishment for their deeds (for severing the bonds of relationship) with respect to you - their relative.” The Imam (a.s) then asked: “Did you want them to stay alive and inconvenience you?” Whereupon the man replied: “By Allah!

No.””[^5] The Imam’s Bonds of Kinship Hasan Ibn ‘Ali, a cousin of Imam Sadiq (a.s), was a courageous, robust and physically powerful person such that he was referred to as the lance of the family of Abu Talib. Possessing a wide nose, he was popularly known as Hasan Aftas. He was the standard-bearer in the uprising initiated by 'Abdullah Mahdh (the grandson of Imam Hasan (a.s)) against Mansur Dawaniqi.

His relations with Imam Sadiq (a.s) turned sour over the issue and he even went to the extent of attacking him (a.s) with a large knife with the intention of killing him (a.s). Salimah, one of Imam's (a.s) slave-girls, relates: “The Imam (a.s) was on his death-bed and I was at his bedside, nursing him, when he suddenly dropped into unconsciousness.

As soon as he had regained his consciousness, he instructed me: 'Give seventy dinars to Hasan Aftas and such and such sums to such and such individuals.'” I said to him: “Should we give seventy dinars to the person, who had lunged at you with a knife and desired to kill you?” He (a.s) said: “Do you not desire that I should be one of those about whom Allah says: وَ الَّذِينَ يَصِلُونَ ما أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَنْ يُوصَلَ وَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ وَ يَخافُونَ سُوءَ الْحِسابِ وَ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا ابْتِغاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ وَ أَقامُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ أَنْفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْناهُمْ سِرًّا وَ عَلانِيَةً وَ يَدْرَؤُنَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ أُولئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّار “And those who join that which Allah has bidden to be joined and have awe of their Lord and fear the evil reckoning.

And those who are constant, seeking the pleasure of their Lord, and keep up prayer and spend (benevolently) out of what We have given them secretly and openly, and repel evil with good; as for those, they shall have the (happy) issue of the abode.”[^6] He (a.s) then continued: “Yes, O' Salimah!

✦ ✦ ✦