III Concern of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) If divine concern is as such...

III Concern of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) If divine concern is as such, no wonder, then, that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, expressed such a profound concern when death approached him, may my life be sacrificed for his sake.

It was then that, according to the order which he received from Allah Almighty, he set to announce ‘Ali's wilayat during his supreme pilgrimage, in the presence of so many witnesses, without being satisfied with similar previous announcements such as his warning in Mecca, or on other occasions with some of which you have by now become familiar. He, therefore, invited the believers to participate in his very last pilgrimage, known as the Farewell Pilgrimage.

People from far and wide responded to his invitation, and no less than one hundred thousand pilgrims left Medina with him.[^3] On the standing day at ‘Arafat, he informed the attendants that: "‘Ali is of me, and I am of ‘Ali, and nobody discharges the responsibility [of my religion] on my behalf except I and ‘Ali."[^4] And when he came back from the pilgrimage and arrived at the valley of Khumm, trusted Gabriel descended upon him with "ayat al-tabligh," verse of conveying the Message, from the Lord of the Worlds.

Immediately thereupon, he alighted there till those who lagged behind him, as well as those who went ahead of him, joined him. When they all assembled, he conducted the obligatory prayers then delivered a sermon about Allah, the Dear and the Omniscient, emphasizing the significance of ‘Ali's wilayat . You have already heard a glittering report of its news, and what you have not heard is even more exact and more explicit; yet what you have heard should suffice you.

Its news was carried on behalf of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, by all those masses who were present with him there and then and who are estimated to have been over one hundred thousand pilgrims from various lands. The order of Allah, the Dear and Sublime, which does not suffer any alteration in His creation, necessitates the consecutive reporting of this hadith in spite of all obstacles in conveying it.

Yet the Imams of (as) follow their own wise methods of disseminating it and publicizing for it. IV Concern of the Commander of the Faithful Referring to the latter, I suggest that you may consider the measure taken by the Commander of the Faithful (as), then Caliph, in gathering people in the spacious meeting place, the Rahba plain.