If a bird eats your heart...

If a bird eats your heart, it will not be satiated and if your eye is poked with a needle you will become blind; Yet, you intend to recognize through these two [i.e.

heart and eye] the kingdom of the heavens and the earth!” Thus, basically, we shouldn’t ask about these matters after the Prophet and the Infallibles from his Ahl al-Bait, Allah’s blessings be on them all, informed us about their occurrence, and the indication of correct traditions about them, and such things occurring in the previous nations, just as the Imam mentioned in the long tradition narrated by Sadīr.

Al-Mufīd says in al-Fuṣūl al-`ashara: “One of Allah’s friends travels in the earth while worshipping his Exalted Lord and keeps away from the oppressors through his actions and distances himself from the abode of the criminals. Through his religion he stays far away from the place of the disobedient. None of the creatures is aware of his residence and no human from them can claim to have met him or to have been in his company.

He is Khiḍr, peace be on him, who lived before the time of Moses [and still lives] today. This is a universally accepted fact amongst the traditionists and completely agreed on by historians and narrators. He travels in the earth and no one knows his abode and no one can claim to be in his company except what has been mentioned in the Holy Quran about Moses, peace be on him. Some people mention that he sometimes appears but he is not recognized.

Some who have seen him think that they have met a God-fearing and abstentious person and when he leaves, they assume him to be Khiḍr even though they are neither sure nor convinced about it. Sometimes, he believes that he is one of the people of this time.” Then, he mentions the occultations of Moses, Joseph, Jonah, and others.

(Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, has explicitly stated that the reason for his occultation will not be revealed except after his reappearance and it is a divine secret—as has been discussed in the first tradition of this chapter from `Abd-Allah b. al-Faḍl al-Hāshimī. On this basis, it will be correct if we say: the real reason (for his occultation) is concealed from us in His Wisdom and it will not be revealed completely except after his reappearance.

Of course, there are numerous benefits and obvious advantages other than this.