had we come to power]...

had we come to power], it would mean nothing except administration by night, traveling by the day, wearing rough clothes, and eating coarse food. [Now] these [hard tasks] have been removed [due to the Umayyads and Abbasids who have withheld our rights] and have you ever seen the withholding of a right that results in a blessing except this?” Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī[^5]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Wāḥid b. `Abd-Allah b. Yūnus, from Abū Sulaimān Aḥmad b. Haudha al-Bāhilī, from Ibrāhīm b.

Isḥāq al-Nahāwandī, from `Abd-Allah b. Ḥammād al-Anṣārī, from al-Mufaḍḍal b. `Umar who said: I was with (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, performing the circumambulation (al-ṭawāf). He looked at me and asked, “O Mufaḍḍal! Why do I see you grieved and distressed?” I said to him, “May I be sacrificed for you! I see the Abbasids and the power, authority, and clout that they enjoy. Had this been for you, we would have enjoyed it with you.” He answered, “O Mufaḍḍal! Had this been the case [i.e.

had we been in power], it wouldn’t be but administration by the night, traveling by the day, eating coarse food, and wearing rough clothes similar [to the lifestyle] of Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him; otherwise, [our abode] would be the fire. Since [power and kingdom] have been removed from us, we can eat and drink [as we like]. Have you seen an oppression that Allah has turned into a blessing like this?’” Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī[^6]: Abū Sulaimān, from Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq, from `Abd-Allah b.

Ḥammād, from `Amr b. Shimr who said: I was with (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, in his house—which was filled with people. People would come forward and ask him questions; and he would not be questioned about a thing except that he answered it. I started crying from one corner of the house and he said to me, “Why are you crying, O `Amr?” I replied, “May I be sacrificed for you! And why shouldn’t I cry? Is there anyone in this nation like you?

And yet, the door has been shut on you and a veil drawn over you!” He replied, “O `Amr! Don’t cry. We eat delicious [food] and wear soft clothes. Had the case been what you say [i.e. had we been in power], it wouldn’t have been but eating coarse food and wearing rough clothes like Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him. [If we practiced anything other than this], the remedy would be chains in the hellfire.” [^1]: Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 13, p. 234, no. 21; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol.

7, chap. 32, sect. 27, p. 79, no.