When he saw me he said...

When he saw me he said: If I knew my place would be such as this I would never even imagine of having joy and pleasure in the world!" Praising the Tyrannical Monarch The reverend Shaykh would restrain his friends and disciples from collaborating with the ruling government (i.e., Pahlavi) particularly from praising and admiring them (the officials).

A disciple of the Shaykh quotes him as saying: "I saw the soul of one of the pious people being tried in the Purgatory state, and all the indecent actions perpetrated by his contemporary despotic ruler were being ascribed to him. The man being tried protested: 'I have not done any of these crimes.

He was replied: 'Did you not say in praise of him that he provided the country with such wonderful security?' He answered: 'Yes.' He was told then: 'You were satisfied with his actions; he made all these crimes to secure his kingdom'." In Nahjul-Balagha, Imam Ali (a) is quoted as saying: الراضي بفعل قوم كالداخل فيه معهم، وعلى كل داخل في باطل أثمان: أثم العمل به، وأثم الرضا به "Whoever is content with conducts of some other people, he is like the one who has collaborated with them in those actions; and whoever perpetrates a falsehood two sins are recorded for him: One for doing it, and the other for being content with it."[^1] Cooperation with the American Military Attaches One of the Shaykh's friends whose son was working with American attaches said: 'On a trip to Mashhad I was in the company of the Shaykh.

Together with him we went to the Holy Shrine for a pilgrimage. He stood in a corner to recite the Ziyarat, talking to Imam al-Reza (a) the same way as I talk to you. After finishing the Ziyarat, he made a sajdah (prostration).

When he raised up his head from sajdah, he called me (near himself) and said: "His Holiness (Imam al-Reza (a)) says: ' Prevent your son from pursuing that job, otherwise he will place a heavy burden on your back!" 'We did not know that he had made arrangements with the Americans to go to the U.S.A.

About twenty five years ago,[^2] one day my son came to me and said: 'I am going abroad and I have made -all the arrangements and even obtained my visa.' Whatever we did we could not avert his decision. When he finally left for the U.S.A., he wrote to us some time later that his wife was barren and that he was divorcing her. Since then we have gone through much trouble because of him. [^1]: Mizan al-Hikmah, VIII, 3714: 12748. [^2]: This interview took place on July I, 1996. Previous…