But when the Imam arrived at Samarra' and al-Mutawakkil was informed about it...

But when the Imam arrived at Samarra' and al-Mutawakkil was informed about it, -he took no notice of the Imam's arrival. When asked about where the Imam should stay, he ordered that the Imam should be put up in the inn meant for beggars, destitutes and homeless people. Al-Mutawakkil who was a deadly enemy of the Ahlu'1-bayt, removed the Imam from this inn and entrusted him to the custody of a stone-hearted brute named Zurafah.

But, by the grace of Allah, his enmity was, in a short time, transformed into love and devotion for the Imam. When al-Mutawakkil learnt about it, he shifted the Imam into the custody of another cruel man called Said. The Imam remained under his strict vigilance for a number of years, during which he was subjected to boundless tortures. But even in this miserable imprisonment, the Imam kept devoting himself at all times to the worship of Allah.

The watchman of the prison used to comment that Imam Ali al-Hadi seemed to be an angel in human garb. When Fat-h ibn Khaqan became the vizier of al-Mutawakkil, he being a Shi'ah could not stand the idea of the Imam's captivity. He endeavoured to have him released from imprisonment and arranged for his comfortable residence in a personally purchased house at Samarra'.

Still al-Mutawakkil could hardly refrain from his antagonism to the Imam and he appointed spies to watch the Imam and his connections. But, through all these attempts, his hope of creating some fabrication to prove the Imam's activity against himself could not be realized. In the time of al-Mutawakkil there was a woman named Zaynab who claimed to be a descendant of Imam Husayn.

Al-Mutawakkil sought the confirmation of Zaynab's claim from the Imam and said: "That as the beasts are prohibited to eat the flesh of the descendants of Imam Husayn he would throw Zaynab to the beasts and test her claim." On hearing this, Zaynab began to tremble and confessed that she was a fake. Al-Mutawakkil then ordered the Imam to be thrown to the beasts to test the claim. To his great surprise, he witnessed the beasts prostrating their heads before the Imam.

Once, al-Mutawakkil happened to suffer from a serious malady which was eventually declared incurable by his physicians. When the Imam was approached for some remedy, he prescribed an application which resulted in a spontaneous cure. Once, al-Mutawakkil was informed that the Imam was preparing a revolt against him.