(This is) an account of the Imam after al-Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī, peace be on them, the date of his birth, the evidence for his Imamate, the age he reached, (together with) the period of his succession, the time and cause of his death, the place of his grave, the number of his children and a selection from the reports about him.

The Imam after al-Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī, peace be on them, was his son, Abū Muḥammed ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-‘Ābidīn, peace be on them. He also had the kunya Abū al-Ḥasan.

His mother was Shahzanān daughter of Yazdigard b. Shahriyār b. Choesroe. Her name was also said to be Shahrbānawayh. The Commander of the Faithful, peace be on him, had appointed Ḥurayth b. Jābir al-Ḥanafī over part of the eastern provinces. The latter had sent to him two daughters of Yazdigard b. Shahriyār b. Choesroe.

Of these he had given his son al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, Shahzanān and she bore him Zayn al-‘Ābidīn (‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn), peace be on him. He had given the other to Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr and she bore him al-Qāsim b. Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr, so that these two (Zayn al-‘Ābidīn and al-Qāsim) were maternal cousins.

‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, was born in Medina in the year 38 A.H. (658/9). He lived with his grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful, peace be on him, for two years, with his uncle, al-Ḥasan, peace be on him, for twelve years, and with his father, al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, for twenty-three years. After his father, he lived a further thirty-four years and he died in Medina in the year 95 A.H. (713/4).

At that time he was fifty-seven years of age. His Imamate was for thirty-four years. He was buried in al-Baqī‘ with his uncle, al-Ḥasan b. ‘Alī, peace be on them.

His Imamate was confirmed in several ways. One of these was that he was the most meritorious (afḍal) of the creatures of Allāh, the Most High, after his father in traditional knowledge (‘ilm) and practice (‘amal). The Imamate belongs to the most meritorious (afḍal) to the exclusion of the less meritorious (mafḍūl) by rational proofs. Among these there was the fact that he was more appropriate for authority by virtue of his father, al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, and more entitled to his position after him through his merit and lineage.

The one who was entitled through the last Imam has more right to his position than anyone else through the evidence of the verse of next of kin (dhū al-arḥām) and the (Qur’ānic) story of Zacharia, peace be on him.1

 Another of (the facts which confirms his Imamate) is the necessity according to reason of the Imamate existing in every age. The claim of every (other) claimant to the Imamate during the time of ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, was invalid and the impossibility of there being any time without an Imam is confirmed by him (being the Imam).

Another (of the facts which confirms his Imamate) is the fact that the Imamate is established in the offspring (‘itra) (of the family of ‘Alī) exclusively by rational deduction and by a report on the authority of the Prophet, may Allāh bless Him and His Family. Invalidity of the arguments of those who claim it for Muḥammad b. al Ḥanafiyya,2 may Allāh be pleased with him, through him (also) belonging to the offspring is established by the absence of the designation of it to him. Therefore it is established that it belongs to ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, since there was no claim for it for any other member of the offspring (of the family) except Muḥammad, may Allāh be pleased with him; his exclusion from it was on account of what we have already mentioned.

Another (of the facts which confirmed his Imamate) was the designation of the Apostle of Allāh, may Allāh bless Him and His Family, of him for the Imamate, in the tradition which is related concerning the tablet (lawḥ) which Jābir reported on the authority of the Apostle of Allāh, may Allāh bless Him and His Family. Muḥammad b. ‘Alī al-Bāqir, peace be on them, (also) related it on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Fāṭima, daughter of the Apostle of Allāh, may Allāh bless Him and His Family.

His grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful, peace be on him, designated him during the life-time of his father, al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, according to the reports which include that. The testamentary bequests (waṣiya) (were made) by his father, al-Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī, peace be on him, and they were deposited with Umm Salama for him. He received them when his father died. His father made the request (for these) from Umm Salama, the sign of the Imamate of the one who should request them among men.3 This part may be known by the examination of the reports and we do not intend in this book to speak about its significance for we will study it thoroughly separately.

•  1 The verse of dhū al-arḥām refers to Qur’ān XXX, 6. The relevant part reads. those who have a relationship of kinship (ūlū al-arḥām) are more entitled (to inherit) from one another according to the Book of God than the believers and the Emigrants. On the story of Zacharia. cf. Qur’ān III, 37-41 and XIX, 2-11. The story stresses the idea of succession through the family.
• 2 In particular the Imamate of Muḥammad b. al Ḥanafiyya was maintained by al-Mukhtār b. Abī ‘Ubayd, who led a revolt in Kūfa on his behalf. 3 cf. al-Kāfī, I, 304, tradition no.
• 3, but other traditions in al-Kāfī suggest that these things were in the hands of Fāṭima, his daughter, cf. al-Kāfī, I, 363-4.

[Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā informed me: my grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan) told us: Idrīs b. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā b. ‘Abd Allāh b. Ḥasan b. Ḥasan, ‘Aḥmad b. ‘Abd Allāh b. Mūsā, and Ismā‘īl b. Ya‘qūb, all told me: ‘Abd Allāh b. Mūsā told us on the authority of his father (Musa b. ‘Abd Allāh), on the authority of his grandfather (‘Abd Allāh b. al-Ḥasan), who said:]

My mother, Fāṭima, daughter of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, used to tell me to sit with my maternal uncle, ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. I never sat with him without rising with some good which I had derived from him, whether it was fear of Allāh which occurred in my heart when I realised (what) fear of Allāh (was) or some traditional knowledge (‘ilm) which I acquired from him.

[Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-‘Alawī informed me on the authority of his grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan), on the authority of Muḥammad b. Maymūn al-Bazzāz, who said: Sufyān b. ‘Uyayna informed us on the authority of Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, who said:] ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, who was the best Hāshimī we ever met, said: “Love us, for it is love for Islam. May your love for us never cease even if it becomes a public disgrace.”

 [Abū Mu‘ammar reported on the authority of ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Abū Ḥāzim who said:] I heard my father say: “I have never seen a Hāshimī more meritorious (afḍal) than ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn.”

 [Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā informed me: my grandfa ther (Yaḥyā b. al-Hasan) told me Abū Muḥammad al-Anṣārī told me: Muḥammad b. Maymūn al-Bazzāz told me: al-Ḥasan b. ‘Alwān told us on the authority of Abū ‘Alī Ziyād b. Rustum, on the authority of Sa‘īd b. Kulthūm who said:] I was with al-Ṣādiq Ja‘far b. Muḥammad, peace be on them. He mentioned the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, and praised and extolled him with (praise) which he was worthy of. Then he said: “O Allāh, ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, never ate anything forbidden in this world until he passed along his (final) road. Two alternatives were never presented to him, when Allāh would be pleased with both, without him taking the more religious of them. No dispute occurred about the Apostle of Allāh, may Allāh bless Him and His Family, without him being summoned as a reliable authority. No one else of this community was able to do the work of the Apostle of Allāh, may Allāh bless Him and His Family; for if he enjoined (such a) man (as ‘Alī) to work, his position would be between Heaven and Hell, hoping for the reward of the former and fearing the punishment of the latter. He freed a thousand slaves with his own money in his desire to seek the face of Allāh and to escape the fire of Hell, (money) which he had laboured for with his own hands and for which his own brow had sweated, even though it had been to provide his family with oil, vinegar and dates. He did not have (many) clothes except white cotton fabrics since when there was any sleeve left over his arm, he called for scissors and cut it off.

None of ‘Alī’s children or his family was more like him and nearer to him in manner of dress and understanding than ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. (One day) his son, Abū Ja‘far, (Muḥammad al-Bāqir), peace be on them, came to him. He had carried out in worship what no one had ever carried out. He saw that his colour had gone yellow from weeping all night; his eyes had used up all their water from being awake all night; his forehead was bruised and his nose squashed from prostrating; and his legs and feet were swollen from standing in prayer. Abū Ja‘far, peace be on him, reported: “I could not control myself from weeping when I saw him in that state and I wept, may Allāh have mercy on him. Behold, he was thinking and he turned to me a short time after I had come and said: ‘My son, give me some of those parchments in which there is the (practice of) worship of ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him’.”

“I gave them to him and he read something from them for a while. Then he let them go from his hand in exasperation and said: ‘Who is strong enough to perform the worship of ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him?”

[Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn reported: ‘Abd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-Qurashī told us:] When ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, used to perform ritual ablutions, his skin would turn yellow, “What is it that has afflicted you?” his family asked him. “Don’t you know Whom you are preparing to stand before?” he asked [‘Amr b. Shamir reported on the authority of Jabīr al-Ju‘fī, on the authority of Abū Ja‘far, peace be on him:]

‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, used to pray a thousand rak‘as during the day and the night. The wind would bend (his body) forward like an ear of corn. [Sufyān al-Thawrī reported on the authority of ‘Ubayd Allāh b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmān b. Mawhib:] The great merit (faḍl) of ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, was mentioned to him but he replied: “It is sufficient for us that I should be one of the righteous members of our people”

 [Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad informed us on the authority of his grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan), on the authority of Salama b. Shabīb, on the authority of ‘Ubayd Allāh b. Muḥammad al-Taymī who said: I heard a shaykh from (the tribe of) ‘Abd al-Qays say:

Ṭāwus said:] I (i.e. Ṭāwus) went into the ḥijr one night and there was ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. He had come in and was standing praying. He prayed as Allāh had wished then he prostrated. I asked a righteous man from the family of goodness whether I might listen to his prayer. I heard him saying during his prostration: Your little servant is at Your courtyard; Your miserable one is at Your courtyard: Your poor one is at Your courtyard; Your beggar is at Your courtyard.

(Ṭāwus added:) I have never prayed with these words at any tribulation without me being freed from it. [Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad informed us on the authority of his grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan), on the authority of Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al Rāfi‘ī, on the authority of Ibrāhīm b. ‘Alī, on the authority of his father (‘Alī b. Abī Rāfi‘), who said:) I (i.e. ‘Alī b. Abī Rāfi‘) made the pilgrimage with ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. The camel carrying him was moving slowly. He pointed toward it with his stick and then said: “Woe if there was no retaliation (in the next world)!” And he moved his hand away from it. [With this chain of authorities:] ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, made the pilgrimage on foot and he took twenty days to travel from Medina to Mecca. [Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad informed me: my grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan) told us: ‘Ammār b. Abān told us: ‘Abd Allāh b. Bukayr told us on the authority of Zurāra b. A‘yan who said that:] He (Zurāra b. A‘yan) heard a voice calling in the middle of the night: “Where are those who abstain with regard to this world out of desire for the next?” A voice called out in answer from the region (of the cemetery) of al-Baqī‘ - he heard its voice without seeing the person - “Such a man is ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them.”

 [‘Abd al-Razzāq reported on the authority of Ma‘mar on the authority of al Zuhrī, who said:] I have never seen any of that House, meaning the House of the Prophet, may Allāh bless Him and His Family, more meritorious (afḍal) than ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. [Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad informed me: my grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan) told me: Abū Yūnus Muḥammad b. Aḥmad told us: my father and another of our companions told me:] A young man from Quraysh was sitting in an assembly with Sa‘īd b. al- Musayyib and saw ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them. “Who is that, Abū Muḥammad?” the Qurashī asked Sa‘īd b. al-Musayyib. “That is the lord of worshippers (‘ābidīn), ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on them,” he answered. [Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad informed me: my grandfather (Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan) told me: Muḥammad b. Ja‘far and others told me:] A man from his House stood in front of ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, and made him listen to him and cursed him. However, he did not reply. When (the man) had gone away, he said to those who were sitting with him: “You heard what that man said? I want you to come with me so that you may hear from me my reply to him.” “We will do that,” they replied, “we wanted you to answer him while we were speaking (together),” He took his shoes and went, while reciting: Those who restrain their anger, and those who forgive the people, Allāh loves those who do good. (III 134). Then we knew that he would not say anything to him. He went along until he came to the house of that man who had screamed at him. “This is ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn,” they told him, He came rushing out towards us with evil intent. He had no doubt that (‘Alī b alḤusayn) had come to him to repay him for some of the evil which he had given him. “Brother,” said ‘Alī b al-Ḥusayn, “you were standing proudly over me and you said this and that. If you have said what is (really) in my (character), I seek Allāh’s forgiveness for it. If you have said what is not in my character, may Allāh forgive you”, The man kissed him between the eyes and replied: “Yes, I said what was not in your character, may I be worthy of it (i.e. Allāh’s forgiveness)”.

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