He is reported to have said...
He is reported to have said: إِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاس حِيْنَمَا يَذْهَبُوْنَ إِلى زِيَارَةِ العَتَبَاتِ الْمُقَدَّسَةِ يَقِفُوْنَ مَاسِكِي الضَّرِيْحِ فَيَتَوَسَّلُوْنَ بِالإِمَامِ لِحَوَائِجِهِمْ الْمَادِّيَّةِ فَيَحْمِلُوْنَ ثِقْلاً عَلى ثِقْلِهِمْ وَلَمْ يَسْئَلُوا الإِمَامَ بِأَنْ يَّأْخُذَ مِنْهُمْ ثِقْلَهُمْ وَهُوَ التَّعَلُّقُ باِلدُّنْيَا،بَلْ يَسْئَلُوْنَهُ بِاَنْ يُعْطيَهُمْ بَيْتاً اَوْ وَلَداً اَوْ زَوْجاً اَوْ سَيَّارَةً، وَمَا سَمِعْنَا عَنْ اَحَدٍ دَخَلَ بِخِدْمَتِهِ وَقَالَ لَهُ خُذْ مِنِّيْ كَذَا وَكَذَا When most of the people visit the holy shrines, they stand holding fast onto the enclosures of the graves and ask the Imam (AS) to mediate on their behalf, so that their material needs are fulfilled.
Consequently, they add a burden over their burden. They do not ask the Imam (AS) to remove their burden which is ‘attachment to the world’; rather they ask for a house, an off spring, a wife or a car; and never have we heard from anyone who entered in his service, and asked him: ‘Relieve me from such and such a thing.’[^8] In one of his lessons on practical ethics ( akhlaq ), Ayatullah…
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