Published on Books on Islam and Muslims | Al-Islam.org (https://www.al-islam.org) Home > Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam volume 2 Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam volume 2 Muntakhab al-Athar Fi l-Imam al-Thani `Ashar (Vol. 2) Author(s): Ayatullah Lutfullah Safi Gulpaygani [3] Publisher(s): Naba Organization [4] This text, which is available in two volumes and is authored by Ayatullah Lutfullah as-Safi al- Gulpaygani, presents a handful of precious narrations about the 12th Awaited Imam. The narrations in this volume focus on the reappearance of the Awaited Imam and this text presents the implications and interpretations of these authentic traditions. Translator(s): Dr. Shabeeb Rizvi [5] Category: Imam al-Mahdi [6] Hadith Collections [7] Featured Category: Shi'a beliefs explained [8] Person Tags: Imam Mahdi [9] Editors Notes ﺑِﺴﻢ اﻟﻪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﻴِﻢ اَﻟﻠﱠﻬﻢ ﻛﻦ ﻟﻮﻟﻴِﻚَ اﻟْﺤﺠﺔ ﺑﻦ اﻟْﺤﺴﻦ ﺻﻠَﻮاﺗُﻚَ ﻋﻠَﻴﻪ و ﻋﻠ آﺑﺎﺋﻪ ﻓ ﻫﺬِه اﻟﺴﺎﻋﺔ و ﻓ ﻛﻞ ﺳﺎﻋﺔ وﻟﻴﺎً و ﺣﺎﻓﻈﺎً و ﻗَﺎﺋﺪاً و ﻧَﺎﺻﺮاً و دﻟﻴﻼ و ﻋﻴﻨﺎً ﺣﺘّ ﺗُﺴﻨَﻪ اَرﺿﻚَ ﻃَﻮﻋﺎً و ﺗُﻤﺘّﻌﻪ ﻓﻴِﻬﺎ ﻃَﻮﻳِﻼ In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful "O, Allah! Be now and at all times for your representative Hazrat Hojjat-Ibnil-Hasan (may your blessings be upon him and his ancestors), a mastr, protector, guide, helper, proof, and guard, until he resides peacefully on the earth, and let him enjoy (your bounties) for a long time (to come)." ***** In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful The current book is the English translation of Muntakhab al-athar, which is probably the largest single collection of traditions about the Mahdi, peace be on him. The text used for this translation is the printed edition of Salmān Fārsī publications, 1422 AH. The following notes should be considered regarding this translation: All verses of the Quran appear in boldface. The words between square brackets are usually additions added by the translator/editor to make the translation of the traditions more expressive. Sometimes, square brackets have been used for the purpose of showing differences in different manuscripts. Some small sections from the original book have been omitted in the translation. These were mostly explanations by the author about not-so-common Arabic words used in the traditions. The results of these explanations have been incorporated in the translated text and have been used to select suitable equivalent English words. Other sections that have been omitted were mostly minor variations in the wordings of the traditions that the author had pointed to in the footnotes. Since these variations usually had the same meaning in English they have not been mentioned. Occasionally, the authors explanations have been slightly altered or shortened to make them more fluent in English. Verses of the Quran have mostly been translated by the editor (unless otherwise mentioned). All instances of ‘ibn’ (meaning son of) have been written as ‘b.’ except in places where ‘ibn’ is not preceded by a proper noun, e.g. ibn Qutayba. For the sake of conciseness and simplicity, the connection between two narrators in a chain is simply shown using the word ‘from.’ For instance, if the chain is ‘X narrated to me that Y heard Z say’ it has been written as ‘From X, from Y, from Z.’ Phrases like: ‘Allah’s blessings be on him and his family’ and ‘peace be on him/her’ have not been abbreviated as is customary in some translations. The word ‘father’ which is written as ‘Abū, Abā, and Abī’ in Arabic, is only written as ‘Abū’ in the translation, except in places where it is preceded by b. or ibn in a compound name. In such cases Abī is used in conformance with the Arabic pronunciation, e.g. Ali b. Abī Ṭālib or ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd. ‘He says’ is usually used to refer to the author of the last book mentioned, e.g. “Faraj al-mahmūm, p. 247, he says: ‘A section about what we have narrated . .’” After some of the references in the footnotes, ‘short version’ has been written. This means that the reference points to a shorter version of the same tradition mentioned in the main text. The transliteration used is in accordance with the following table: Symbol Transliteration Symbol Transliteration :ṭ Long ط ‘ ء ا، آ ẓ ظ B ب و ` ع T ت ی gh غ Th ث :f Short ف J ج َ_ q ق ḥ ح ُ_ k ک kh خ l ل d د :m Diphthongs م dh ذ أو n ن r ر أی h ه z ز w و s س y ی sh ش a, at ة ṣ ص -al-, l ال ḍ ض Since we are fallible, it is inevitable that we will make mistakes. If you find any in the current book please inform us so they can be corrected in future versions. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Mr Abdol-Hossein Taleie for his useful suggestions during the reviewing process and Ali Mansouri for proofreading the draft. The editor can be contacted through [email protected] [10]. Author’s Preface Those informed about Islamic history, traditions, and narrations are certainly aware of the abundance of glad tidings narrated from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, his holy progeny, peace be on them, and his companions regarding the reappearance of Imam Mahdī1, peace be on him, in the end of times (ākhir al-zamān) and the rise of the sun of his existence to dispel the darkness of ignorance, remove oppression and tyranny, spread the flags of justice, elevate the word of truth, and prevail over all religions even if the polytheists (mushrikīn) dislike it. With the permission of Allah, he will free the world from the disgrace of worshipping anyone other than Allah. (He will) set aside shameful habits and morals, put an end to defective laws formulated by humans in accordance with their desires, destroy all things that create enmity and hatred, break the bonds of all forms of prejudice—whether they be tribal, familial, national, or otherwise—which lead to differences in the nation, create separations, and inflame the fires of civil unrest and disputes. Through his reappearance, Allah will fulfill His Promise which He has pledged in His sayings: Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them successors on earth just as He made successors those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange.2 And We desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak on earth, and to make them the leaders, and to make them the heirs.3 Soon, the golden era will arrive during which no house will remain on the face of earth, but that in which Allah will enter the word of Islam and no village will exist, but that in which the testimony of there is no god except Allah will be called out every morning and evening. Perhaps, some may claim that there exists no consensus amongst the Muslims on the issue (of the Mahdī) and their agreement on it is mere speculation. Obviously, such a claim is baseless, because many claimed to be the Mahdī in the first era of Islam and in the following ages in which people were still close to the time of the Holy Prophet Allah's blessings be on him and his family, his companions (ṣaḥāba) and the followers (tābi`īn), but we do not see any of the companions or the followers refuting the original concept of Mahdawiyya, but rather, they disputed the claims of the imposters on the basis of their characteristics and features. Among those subjects that have been narrated to us and we don’t have any method of proving except by hearing them, there is no subject that we must have faith in which is more important than believing in the appearance of the Mahdī, may peace be on him. This is because the glad-tidings that have been narrated concerning him are many and beyond the limit of tawātur. This is while the traditions about most of the beliefs of the Muslims have not reached such a state of tawātur. In fact, for some of these beliefs, one can only find a single tradition as support and yet, it is regarded as a definite fact. Thus, how can a Muslim—who believes in what the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, has brought and conveyed—have doubts about the reappearance of Mahdī, peace be on him, despite the existence of such abundant traditions? These traditions cannot be disputed because of the weakness of the chain of narrators in some of them or because of the odd concepts and improbability of the occurrence (of the events mentioned) in others. Surely, the weakness of the chain of narrators does not harm the other traditions which have highly authentic and reliable narrators and contents. Otherwise, we will be forced to put aside all the correct traditions due to the presence of a few weak ones on the subject. Furthermore, their definitions are well known amongst the faithful and the (religious) leaders of the Muslims, great scholars, and the specialists in the science of traditions have narrated them. Besides, the weakness of the chain of narrators can cast doubt on the narration if the narration is not mutawātir. But, when a narration is mutawātir, the weakness of the chain is no longer a criterion for its reliability.