His Eminence asked, “What has caused you to lament?

His Eminence asked, “What has caused you to lament?” He replied, “There are some people outside who imagine that you have no superiority over us and that you and them are equal.” His Eminence, Sadiq (as) remained quiet for sometime, then he ordered for a tray of dates. Then he picked up a date and split it into two. He ate the fruit and buried the seed in the ground. It grew up into a tree slowly and bore raw date fruits. His Eminence took them and ate them.

At that moment a writing appeared on its skin. The Imam gave it to Mualla and said: Read it. On it was written: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

‘Ali al-Murtuza, al-Hasan, al-Husain, ‘Ali bin al- Husain…one name after the other till that of Imam Hasan Askari (as) and his son (Mahdi).”[^3] Shaykh Sadooq has narrated from the companions of Ibne Sult that he said: I asked Imam ‘Ali Reza (as): “Are you the Sahibul Amr (Master of the Affairs)? He replied: I am also Sahibul Amr but not the Sahibul Amr who will fill the earth with justice as it would have been fraught with tyranny and oppression. And how can I be that person?

While you can see that I am physically weak. Whereas the Qa’im is the one who at the time of his reappearance will be senior in age but have the appearance of the youth. His body shall be so strong that if he catches hold of the biggest tree of the earth he shall be able to uproot it and if he shouts between the mountains, their stones will roll down. The staff of Prophet Moosa and the seal ring of Prophet Sulaiman (as) are with him. He is my fourth descendent.

The Almighty Allah will keep him in occultation as long as Divine wisdom dictates. Then He will reveal him so that he may fill the earth with justice and equity just as it would fraught with injustice and oppression.”[^4] Shaykh Sadooq has also narrated an authentic tradition from Abu Hashim Dawood bin al-Qasim Ja’fari that he said: I heard His Eminence, Abul Hasan of Askar (Imam Hadi) (as) that he said: “The successor after me is my son al-Hasan but what will you do with the successor of my successor?” Al-Ja’fari said, “May Allah make me your sacrifice!