Haddab wanted him to prove his claim of knowing any language...

Haddab wanted him to prove his claim of knowing any language and speak with the Romans, Hindus, Persians, and Turks who were in town, the holy Imam said, “Call them in.” A number of the speakers of various languages were brought to the presence of his holiness and he talked to all of them in such fluency that all admitted to the Imam’s mastery and the people were astonished at seeing this happening,[^4] because Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) had never had a teacher in this regard and had never learned various languages with anyone, nor had he associated with these individuals in Medina so as to learn to speak so many languages with such fluency.

Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) Familiarity with the Language of the Birds and Animals Various manifestations of Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) knowledge of the animals’ language is recorded, some of which are pointed out here. Sulayman b. Ja‘far said, “I was with Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) in the garden when all of a sudden a sparrow came to his holiness and began to chirp.

His holiness said, ‘Do you know what it is saying?’ I said, ‘No, Allah and His messenger and his son know best.’ His holiness said, ‘She says a snake wants to eat her chicks. Take this stick, go to that house and kill the snake.’ He said, ‘When I entered the house, I saw a snake was moving around and I killed it.”[^5] A person called Harun b.

Musa says: “I was in a desert with Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) when his horse neighed and the Imam let go of (the rein of) the horse; it went away (to a corner) and relieved itself and came back.

Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) – who had noticed my surprise – looked at me and said, ‘Nothing has been granted to the prophet David (a.s.) except that more also has been granted to Muhammad (S) and his Household (a.s.).”[^6] [Implying that the Prophet David knew the animals’ language; so, no wonder we know it, too.] Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) Widespread Knowledge in Occult Sciences A part of the vast knowledge of Imam al-Ridha (a.s.) is manifested in the occult news reported by his holiness, some of which are mentioned as follows: Imam al-Ridha’s (a.s.) Predictions concerning the Barmakids His holiness frequently pointed out the annihilation of the Barmakids, who were the closest people to Harun and very influential in his court.

On his journey to Hajj pilgrimage, when the Imam glanced upon the dusty face of Yahya b. Khalid Barmaki in the land of Mina, he said, “These wretched people do not know what is going to happen to them this year.”[^7] Muhammad b.