As he (peace be upon him) did so...

As he (peace be upon him) did so, the people crowded around him and began questioning him about the python. The Imam (peace be upon him) explained: The issue is not what you had thought it to be. He was one of the judges from amongst the Jinn and he had found himself confused in connection with a judgment; so he approached me and sought to know the verdict. I explained the judgment to him, whereupon he prayed for me and departed.

[^3] The Inclination of the Judge and his Punishment Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) has been reported to have related: In the tribe of Bani Israel there lived a scholar, who used to adjudicate amongst the people. When he was about to die he instructed his wife: When I have died, perform the ablutions, wrap me with the shroud, place me within the coffin and cover my face. When he died, his wife did as she had been instructed.

However, after a short while, desiring to see her husband’s face one last time, she moved aside the covering from over his face when she was shaken by the sight of a worm biting her husband’s nose and eating it. That night she witnessed her husband in her dreams and sought to know the reason for the presence of the worm. The judge said: Once, your brother, in the company of another person, had approached me for the purpose of adjudicating a dispute that had developed between them.

In my heart I felt inclined to pass the judgment in his favour. The trial nevertheless, proved that the truth was with him. However, it was that inclination to pass the judgment in his favour (before the trial) that brought upon me the punishment by means of the worm that you witnessed on my face. [^4] The ‘Hereafterly’ Judgment Prophet Dawood (peace be upon him) once prayed to God to make manifest for him one of His judgments that He would issue on the Day of Judgment.

God revealed to him: You have sought from Me a thing which I have not manifested before anyone; it does not befit anyone to judge in that manner except Me. However, when Prophet Dawood (peace be upon him) once again repeated his request, Jibraeel descended and said: You have requested God for something which none of the Prophets before you has ever requested; nonetheless God has answered your prayer.

In the first case that shall come up before you for judgment, the ruling of the hereafter shall become manifest before you. The next morning as Prophet Dawood sat in his court, an old man entered bringing along with him a youth, who held a bunch of grapes in his hand.