This was the brief life history of a perfect mystic.

This was the brief life history of a perfect mystic. For the detailed biography the readers may refer to the following books: Rehanateh al-Adab, vol.5, p.397, Naqba al-Beshar, vol.1, p.330, Ganjinai-danishmandan, vol. 1, p.232 , preface to Resala Laqa-Allah and Simai-Farzangan pp. 60-70. [^1]: Imam al-Mahdi [a]: The son of Imam Hasan al-'Askari was born in Samarra on Friday, 15th. Sha'ban 255 A.H.

The twelfth Imam lived in hiding under the protection and tutorship of his father until the latter's martyrdom, when by Allah's command he went into occultation, during a period known as Lesser-occultation (al-Ghaybat al-Sughra). During this period, four special deputies in succession would answer the questions of the…