In another tradition it has been reported that the elders of...

In another tradition it has been reported that the elders of Medinah approached Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and said: O’ Aba al-Hasan! Fatimah weeps during the day and the night and none of us are able to sleep at night. During the day, we are unable to rest due to our involvement in earning the livelihood, while at night we are unable to do so due to her (peace be upon her) weeping. Ask her to weep either during the day or during the night.

The Imam (peace be upon him) conveyed this message to her (peace be upon her) whereupon she said: O’ Aba Al-Hasan! I shall not remain in this world for long but shall shortly depart from amidst the people. I shall never be able to calm myself from my weeping till I am united with my father. Imam (peace be upon him) constructed for her, in the cemetery of Baqee’ outside Medinah, a room of bricks and date-palm leaves by the name of Bayt al-Ahzaan.

Every morning, Zahra (peace be upon her) would take her children and go to Baqee’ where she would weep incessantly amongst the graves; when night would fall, the Imam (peace be upon him) would come and bring her home with him.[^5] Thirty Five Years of Weeping! Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The fourth Imam (peace be upon him) wept for his father for around forty years, the days of which he used to remain in a state of fasting while the nights he would pass in worship.

When it would be time for breaking the fast, his slave would bring food and water, and placing them before him, say: “Eat it”. (Whereupon) he (peace be upon him) would say: “My father was killed in a state of hunger and thirst”, and then he would weep so intensely that his food would become moistened by his tears. And this continued for as long as he was alive.

One of the friends of Imam Sajjaad (peace be upon him) says: One day the Imam (peace be upon him) had started out for the desert and so I too went after him. When I found him, I saw him prostrating upon a rough stone, weeping and wailing and counted that he recited a dhikr a thousand times. He then raised his head (and I observed) that his face and beard were moistened with tears. I said to him: O’ My Master! End your sorrow and reduce your weeping! He said: Woe unto you!

Ya'qub, the son of Ishaaq, was a prophet and the son of a prophet.