Imam Zaman (ع) will tell him...

Imam Zaman (ع) will tell him, “Go to the treasurer and tell him that Mahdi commands him to provide you with some money.” At conveying the Imam’s message to the treasurer, the latter will tell him, “Bring me your garment.” Then the treasurer will fill it full.

When the poor man turns away to leave, he will regret his request, saying to himself, “Why should I be the greediest of the nation of Muhammad?” So he will return it to the treasurer, but it will not be accepted, and Mahdi will tell him, “What we have granted, we will not take back.” In describing the time of Imam al-Mahdi’s (ع) rule, the Prophet (ص) has said, “People will be searching for someone poor who would accept charity or gifts from them, to no avail; they will put aside the zakat of their wealth, but they will not find anyone to give it to, for all will be made well-off by Allah grace.” After Imam al-Mahdi (ع) establishes his rule, will there be any oppressors remaining in power?

The character trait of the universal rule of Imam al-Mahdi (ع) will be the worldwide maintenance of peace, security, justice, and the annihilation of the foundations of corruption, decadence, oppression, and crime; just as this has been the main purpose of all the prophets, but with the difference that the success of the latter and their successors following them was not as decisive, but nevertheless, establishing worldwide peace and security has always constituted one of their promises.

And so the unpolluted souls of mankind at large, ever since the beginning of human history, have been waiting for the time when those promises would be realized. Now since Allah (awj), His messengers, and their infallible successors do not breach their promises, they would not raise the hopes of people without a good reason. This means that this promise will certainly be realized and that a just government will be established, consisting of the aforementioned characteristics.

This promise is so vital and real that its realization can be considered the rationale behind the creation of humankind; a promise that once realized will lead to the unity of the whole of humankind under the banner of tawhid and, by Allah’s (awj) mercy, the uprooting of disbelief, polytheism, and hypocrisy[^2] from amongst them. The narrations that express this are numerous. For instance, it has been recorded that Imam Hasan b.