alongside] the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

alongside] the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.” Kashf al-astār[^7]: Abū Muḥammad al-Faḍl b. Shādhān al-Nīsābūrī—who passed away during the lifetime of (Imam) Abū Muḥammad al-`Askarī, peace be on him—has recorded in his book al-Ghayba: Narrated to us al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from `Alī b.

Ri’āb, from Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, a lengthy tradition from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī, at the end of which he said: Then, there will be enmity between the Arab and non-Arab rulers because of their differences. It will be like this until the affair reaches a person from the descendants of Abū Sufyān . . . thereafter the king of the kings, the slayer of the unbelievers, the desired ruler, and the one during whose occultation intellects (uqūl) will be baffled, will appear.

He is the ninth from your descendants, O Ḥusayn. He will emerge from between the two rukns [of Ka`ba] and he will be victorious over the humans and the Jinn . . . Salvation is for the believers who realize his time, reach his era, witness his days, and meet his followers. Kamāl al-dīn[^8]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from `Alī b. Ma`bad, from al-Ḥusayn b. Khālid, from Imam `Alī b.

Mūsā al-Riḍā, from (Imam) Mūsā b. Ja`far, from his father (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī, from his father (Imam) `Alī b. Ḥusayn, from his father (Imam) al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī, who said: My father Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib said to me, “O Ḥusayn! The ninth from your descendants is the one who will rise with the truth, manifest religion, and spread justice.” I asked him, “O Amīr al-Mu’minīn!

Will this [really] happen?” He replied, “Yes, I swear by the One Who sent Muḥammad with prophethood and selected him from all the creatures; but [this will happen] only after an occultation and bewilderment in which no one will remain steadfast in his religion except the sincere ones—those who are inseparable from the spirit of certainty.

They are the ones from whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, has taken the covenant of our mastership (wilāya), has written faith in their hearts, and has assisted them with a Holy Spirit from Himself.” Kamāl al-dīn[^9]: Narrated to us al-Muẓaffar b. Ja`far b. al-Muẓaffar al-`Alawī al-Samarqandī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Mas`ūd, from his father, from Jabra’īl b. Aḥmad, from Mūsā b. Ja`far al-Baghdādī, from al-Ḥasan b.