The bitter odds of life forced them to face various situations and fortunes...

The bitter odds of life forced them to face various situations and fortunes, and they had to cope through various means and methods, each according to what best suited his own individual capacity and caliber. In order to learn the best methods to apply in various circumstances, we must read these biographies, one by one, so that we may go through all events and come to know of the best possible way to deal with them.

It is equally important to appreciate the lofty status they enjoy in numerous verses of the holy QUR'AN which refer to their sublime ethics and exemplary deeds. I would like here to quote only a few of them which is but a drop in the ocean: On p.

244 of GHAYAT AL-MARAM, 'ALLAMA AL-BAHRANI quotes the FAQIH ABU AL-HASAN MUHAMMAD IBN ALI IBN SHADHAN as stated in AL-MANAQIB AL-MA'AHMIN TARIQ AL-AMMAH, quoting IBN 'ABBAS saying that he heard the Messenger of God (P.B.U.H.) say in a lengthy HADITH: "O people! Whoever is pleased to emulate me, let him accept the WILAYAT of ALI IBN ABU TALIB and the Imams from my offspring, for they are the storehouses of my knowledge". JABIR IBN 'ABD ALLAH AL-ANSARI stood and asked: "O Messenger of God!

How many are these Imams?" He (P.B.U.H.) answered: "O JABIR! You have asked me, God bless you, about Islam in its entirety!" then he added: "Their number is similar to the number of wells which gushed forth for MUSA IBN 'UMRAN when he struck the stone and twelve wells gushed forth". On p. 406-407, Vol.

2, of TAFSIR AL-BURHAN, 'ALLAMA AL-BAHRANI quotes IMAM ABU JA'GAR MUHAMMAD IBN JARIR from SHADHAN from SALMAN saying: "The Messenger of God (P.B.U.H.) said once to me: 'God the Almighty and Sublime never sent a prophet or a messenger without assigning twelve NAQIBS (representatives or deputies)'. I said: 'O Messenger of God! I have come to know that from the People of the two Books'. He said: 'O SALMAN!

Did you come to know who are my NAQIBS and who are the twelve men God selected for the nation after me?" I said: 'God and His Messenger know best'. He (P.B.U.H.) said 'O SALMAN!

God created me of the choice of His light and called upon me and I obeyed Him, and He created IMAM ALI out of my light and He called upon him and Ali obeyed Him, and He created Fatima of both myself and Ali, and He called her and she obeyed Him, and He created AL-HASAN of me, of Ali and of Fatima, and He called upon him and he obeyed Him, and He created AL-HUSAIN of me, of Ali, of Fatima, and of AL-HASAN, and He called upon him and he obeyed him.