A week before the death of al-Sammari the following...

A week before the death of al-Sammari the following pronouncement (Tawqi') was issued by the Twelfth Imam: May Allah give good rewards to your bretheren concerning you (i.e. on your death), for indeed you shall die after six days. So prepare your affairs, and do not appoint anyone to take your place after your death.

For the second occultation has now occurred, and there can be no appearance until, after a long time when Allah gives His permission, hearts become hardened and the world becomes filled with injustice. And someone shall come to my partisans (Shi’a) claiming that he has seen me; but beware of anyone claiming to have seen me before the rise of al-­Sufyani and the outcry from the sky, for he shall be a slanderous liar[^11].

Six days after the announcement of this document the principal agents congregated at the death-bed of the fourth safer and asked him who was to take charge of his office. Al-Sammari replied, "To Allah belongs the matter which He shall accomplish" ( Li - llah amr huwa balighuh ).[^12]" This was the last statement heard from al-Sammari, the fourth Saf’ir . Thereby direct communication between the safars and the Twelfth Imam was brought to an end.

In other words the short occultation had ended and the second occultation or, according to the later sources, the major occultation had begun. An Analysis of the Tawqi’ of the Fourth Saf’ir The pronouncement of the Twelfth Imam illustrates five points: Firstly, it reveals that the fourth Saf’ir , al-Sammari, would die six days after the issue of the Tawqi’. According to the Imamite reports, al-Sammari did die on the mentioned day.

It is worth pointing out that the Twelfth Imam is also said to have predicted the times of the deaths of the three previous Saf’irs [^13]. For the Imamites this prediction was strong proof that the Tawqi' had been issued by the Imam himself.

Secondly, the Imam ordered the fourth Saf’ir not to designate anyone to succeed him or to be in charge of his office, " wa - la tusi ila ahad fa - yaqum maqamak ba'd wafatik ."[^14] This clearly indicated the end of direct communication between the Imam and his Saf’irs and agents.