The Eighty-Seventh Assembly, the Assembly of Friday, the Twenty-Eighth of Rajab, 368 AH.

I said to Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq (as): How was the birth of Fatima (sa)? So, he said: Yes, when Khadija (as) married the Messenger of Allah (s), the women of Mecca abandoned her, so no women would visit her or greet her. No women were left to go to her. Khadija (as) became lonely because of that, and the Messenger (s) became concerned with her melancholy. So, when she became pregnant with Fatima (sa), she would speak to her from her womb and console her. Khajida kept this hidden from the Messenger of Allah (s). One day, the Messenger of Allah (s) entered and heard Khadija conversing with Fatima (sa), so he said to her: Khadija, who are you talking to? She said: The fetus in my womb speaks kindly to me. He said: O Khadija! This Gabriel informs me that she is a female, and that her progeny will be pure and auspicious, and that Allah will make my progeny her progeny, and He will make Imams from her progeny, and He will make them the vicegerents in His Earth after the cessation of revelation. When Khadija (as) went into labour, she turned to the women of Quraysh and Banu Hashim and said: Come comfort me, just as women comfort women [in labour]. So, they went to her and said to her: You disobeyed us and did not accept our words by marrying Muhammad, the orphan of Abu Talib, who is poor and has no wealth. So, we will not come, nor will we assist you with anything. Khadija despaired over that, and it became apparent; when four tall dark women came to her. It was as if they were women from Banu Hashim. She was startled by them when she saw them. One of the women said: Do not grieve, O Khadija, for we are messengers from your Lord to you. We are your sisters: I am Sara, this is Asiya bint Mazahim, who is your friend in Paradise, and this is Maryam the daughter of `Imran, and this is Kulthum the sister of Musa the daughter of `Imran. Allah sent us to you to comfort you just as women comfort women. One of them sat to her right, one of them sat to her left, one of them sat in front of her, and one of them sat behind her. Fatima (sa) was born pure and purifying. When she came to the ground, a light shined from her that entered the houses of Mecca. There was not a place in the East or the West that was not illuminated with that light. Ten dark-eyed beauties (hur al-`ayn) entered, each of whom carried a pan and a pitcher from Paradise. In each pitcher was water from al-Kawthar. They were given to the woman that was in front of her, and she washed her (Fatima) with the water of al-Kawthar. She brought out two cloths whiter than milk and smelling better than musk and ambergris. She wrapped her in one and veiled her with the other. Then, Fatima (sa) spoke, saying: I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and that my father is the Messenger of Allah and Master of the Prophets, and that `Ali is the Master of the Deputies, and that my children are the Masters of the Tribes. Then, Fatima greeted all the women, and called each one of them by their names. They smiled to her, and the dark-eyed beauties became delighted, and all the people of the heavens gave glad tidings to one another over the birth of Fatima (sa). An illuminating light appeared in the heaven that the angels had never seen before. So, the women said: Take her, O Khadija. She is pure, purifying, and auspicious. Congratulations to you on her and her progeny. So, Khadija received her happy and delighted, and breastfed her. Fatima would grow in one day as much as a child would grow in a month, and she would grow in a month as much as a child would grow in a year.

Fatima (sa) was walking, and her walk was like the walk of the Messenger of Allah (s). So, the Prophet (s) said: Greetings, daughter. Then, he sat her down to his right or his left. Then, he whispered a saying to her, and she wept. Then, he whispered a saying to her, and she laughed. So, I said to her: The Messenger of Allah said something to you, and you wept, then he said something to you, and you laughed. I have not seen a grief that was so close to laughter until today. She asked her about what he said. So, she said: I would not disclose the secret of the Messenger of Allah (s). When he passed away, I asked her, and she said: He whispered to me and said: “Surely, Gabriel would review the Quran with me one time annually. This year, he reviewed it with me twice. I do not see this except [as a foretelling of] my death. Surely, you will be the first of my Ahl al-Bayt to follow me – and what a blessed predecessor do you have in me. So, she wept at that. Then, he said: Are you not pleased with being the Mistress of the Women of this Nation – rather, the Women of the Believers [altogether]? So, she laughed at that.

One day, I was sitting before the Messenger of Allah (s). `Ali b. Abi Talib, Fatima, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn (as) were in front of him when Gabriel (as) came down with an apple in his hand. He gave it to the Prophet (s), then the Prophet gave it to `Ali (as), then he returned it to the Prophet (s). Then, the Prophet (s) gave it to al-Hasan (as). He accepted it and then returned it to the Prophet (s). Then, the Prophet (s) gave it to al-Husayn. He accepted it and then returned it to the Prophet (s). Then, the Prophet (s) gave it to Fatima. She accepted it and then returned it to the Prophet. Then, the Prophet (s) gave it to `Ali (as) a second time. When he wanted to return it to the Prophet (s), the apple fell from his fingertips. It split into two parts, and a light dazzled from it until it reached the sky of this world. Two written lines appeared on it: “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This is a salutation from Allah to Muhammad the Chosen One (al-Mustafa), `Ali the One Pleasing to God (al-Murtada), Fatima the Radiant (al-Zahra’), and al-Hasan and al-Husayn the Two Clans of the Messenger of Allah (sibtay rasulAllah); and a [statement of] protection from the Fire for their lovers on the Day of Resurrection.”

I saw the Prophet (s) take the hand of al-Husayn b. `Ali (as), saying: O people! This is al-Husayn b. `Ali. Recognize him, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, he will be in Paradise, and his lovers will be in Paradise, and his lovers’ lovers will be in Paradise.

I was with Amir al-Mu’minin (as) when he went out to Siffin. When he disembarked in Naynawa, on the coast of the Euphrates, he called out at the top of his lungs: O Ibn `Abbas! Do you recognize this spot? So, I said to him: I do not recognize it, Amir al-Mu’minin. So, `Ali (as) said: Were you to recognize it as I recognize it, you would not be able to cross it without weeping as I weep. He said: Then, he wept for a long time, until his beard was soaked, and the tears dripped onto his chest. We wept with him; while he was saying: Oh, oh! What do I have to do with the Family of Abi Sufyan? What do I have to do with the Family of Harb? The Party of Satan, the Friends of Disbelief! Be patient, O Aba `Abdillah, for they have treated your father similar to how they treat you. Then, he called for water, and he made ablution for prayer. He prayed for as long as Allah willed for him to pray. Then, he repeated his previous words; till he became sleepy at the end of his hour of praying and words. Then, he regained focus and said: O Ibn `Abbas! So, I said: I am here. So, he said: Shall I not tell you about what I saw in my dream when I laid down? So, I said: Your eyes slept, but you saw goodness, Amir al-Mu’minin. He said: [In my dream,] it was as though I saw men descend from heaven with white flags. Their swords were unsheathed, and they were shining brightly. They created a perimeter around this land. Then, I saw as though these palm trees were striking the ground with their branches, striking with vain blood. It was as though I saw al-Husayn – my son, my youngling, my blood, my mind – was drowning in it, seeking help but not finding help. It was as though the shining men that had descended from heaven were calling to him and saying: “Patience, Family of Muhammad, for you are killed by the hands of the evilest of mankind. This is Paradise, Aba `Abdillah, and it longs for you.” Then, they consoled me, saying: “O Aba’l Hasan! Be glad, for Allah will bring joy to your eye through him on the Day of Resurrection – the Day that the people will be stood before the Lord of the Worlds.” Then, I regained focus to this. By Him in whose hand is my soul, the Truthful and Trusted Abu’l Qasim (s) told me that I would see this when I would go out to [fight] the betraying people (ahl al-baghi). This is a land of calamity and affliction (karb wa bala’), where al-Husayn and seventeen men from my descendants and the descendants of Fatima will be buried. It is known in the heavens. The land of calamity and affliction is mentioned just as the land of the Two Sanctuaries and the land of Bayt al-Maqdis is mentioned. Then, he said: O Ibn `Abbas! Look for the manure of gazelles for me, for by Allah, I have not lied, nor have I been lied to. It is yellow, and its colour is like saffron. Ibn `Abbas said: So, I looked for it, and I found it gathered. So, I called for him: O Amir al-Mu’minin! I have found what you have described to me. So, `Ali (as) said: Allah and His The Messenger have spoken the truth. Then, he (as) stood and ran toward it. He picked it up and smelled it. He said: This is precisely it. Do you know, Ibn `Abbas, what this manure is? This is what `Isa b. Maryam (as) smelled. He passed by it with his apostles, and he saw a gazelle here weeping. So, `Isa (as) sat down, and the apostles sat down with him. He wept, and the apostles wept too, not knowing why he sat down and why he was weeping. So, they said: “O Spirit of Allah and His Word! What makes you weep?” He said: “Do you know what land this is?” They said: “No.” He said: “This is the land in which the son of the Messenger, Ahmad, and the son of the Free, the Pure, the Maiden, the one in the likeness of my mother, will be killed and will die in. The clay [here] is sweeter than musk, because it is the clay of the martyred son – such is the clay of the prophets and the children of the prophets. This gazelle speaks to me, and it says that it grazes this land longing for the soil of the blessed son. It believes that it is safe in this land.” Then, he picked up some of the manure with his hand and smelled it. He said: “This manure of the gazelle is fragrant because of the grass of this place. O Allah! Preserve it so that his father may also smell it, so that it may be a source of consolation and relief for him.” He said: So, it remained for the people until this day, and it has been yellowed due to its lengthy time. This is a land of calamity and affliction. Then, he said at the top of his lungs: O Lord of `Isa b. Maryam! Do not bless his murderers, nor those who help them in it, nor those who desert him. Then, he wept for a long time, and we wept with him, until he fainted onto his face for a long time. Then, he awoke, took the manure, and wrapped it in his cloak. He commanded me to do the same. Then, he said: O Ibn `Abbas! If you see it bursting with congealed blood and dripping in blood, then know that Aba `Abdillah has been killed here and buried. Ibn `Abbas said: By Allah, I preserved it better than some of the things that Allah obligated over me. I did not move it from the edge of my sleeve. One day, I was sleeping in the house, when I found it dripping congealed blood. My sleeve was filled with congealed blood, so I sat weeping, and I said: By Allah, al-Husayn has been killed. By Allah, `Ali has never lied to me in what he has said to me. He has never informed me of a thing except that it was as he said, because the Messenger of Allah (s) would inform him of things that he would not inform others. So, I panicked, and I left, and that was at Fajr. By Allah, I saw that Medina was filled with fog that could not be seen through. Then, the Sun rose, and I saw that it was as though it was eclipsed. I saw that it was as though the walls of Medina were covered in congealed blood. So, I sat weeping, and I said: By Allah, al-Husayn has been killed. I heard a voice from the direction of the house, and it was saying: Be patient, O Family of the Messenger, The feeble son has been killed, The Trustworthy Spirit has descended, With weeping and wailing. Then, it wept at the top of its lungs, and I wept. That hour became resolute with me – it was the month of Muharram, the day of `Ashura’, and ten days had passed from it. I found that he was killed on the same day that we had been informed of. So, I told this hadith to those who were with him, and they said: By Allah, we heard the same thing that you heard while we were in battle. We did not know who [said it], so we believed that it was al-Khidr (as).

When the Messenger of Allah (sw) was taken on the Night Journey to the heavens, he did not pass by any of Allah’s creation except that he saw from them what he loved of joy, kindness, and happiness towards him, until he passed by one of Allah’s creations, and he did not turn towards him, nor did he say anything to him. He found him frowning and gloomy. He said: 'O Gabriel, I did not pass by any of Allah’s creation except that I saw joy, kindness, and happiness from them except this one, who is this?' He replied: 'This is Malik, the keeper of the Fire, and his Lord has created him this way.' He said: 'I wish that you ask him to show me the Fire.' Gabriel said to him (Malik): 'This is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, and he has asked me to request you to show him the Fire.' He (Malik) then revealed a part of it to him, and he saw it. From that time, he (the Prophet (sw)) did not smile until Allah, the Mighty and Exalted, took him (in death).