Imam Hasan Askari’s Message to Is’haq Bin Ismail al-Nishabouri
Allah covers you and us with His shelter and takes care of all of your affairs through His power. I have understood your message – Allah compassionates you. Thanks to Allah, we – the Prophet’s family – sympathize our disciples and feel delight when Allah’s beneficence and favors are given to them incessantly. We also count every favor that Allah, the Blessed the Exalted, bestows upon them.
Allah confers upon you, Is’haq, and your examples, which Allah has compassionated and led to the right, with His grace. Allah makes His favor perfect for you by taking you to Paradise. “Alhamdu Lillah – All praise is to Allah -” is the perfect thanks for any favor, apart from its greatness or magnitude. I praise Allah too much to be compared to any wording of praise all over times, for His conferment of graces upon you as He has compassionated you, saved you from destruction, and eased your course to pass the obstacle.
By Allah, it was such an insurmountable obstacle. Its matter was too intense; its course was too difficult; its trial was too hard; it was mentioned in the ancient books. In the time of the late Imam (A.S.) and in my days, you have had some affairs due to which I dispraised your opinions for you have been practicing unsuccessfully. You should know so fully, Is’haq, that he whoever quits this world with blindness will be also blind in the world to come and in terrible error.
O Is’haq, it is not the sights that are affected with blindness; in fact, it is the hearts that are in the chests. This is proved in Allah’s conveying the saying of the wrong ones in His Book of wisdom:
“He will say, ‘My Lord, why have you brought me back to life blind; before I could see?’ The Lord will say, ‘This is true. But just as you forgot Our (claim) that had come to you, so, too, are you forgotten on this day. (Holy Qur’an 20:124-125) Which claim is more magnificent than the Lord’s argument against His creatures, the Lord’s representative on His lands, and the Lord’s witness on His servants after the consecution of forefathers; the prophets and forefathers; the successors of the prophets? Peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings be upon them all. Where are you taken away?
Where are you directing aimlessly like animals? Are you rejecting the right and believing in the wrong? How are you denying the grace of Allah? Do not be like those who believe in only a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other. He whichever of you or others does so will gain nothing more than debasement in this worldly life and a long-termed agony in the permanent life to come. That is surely the greatest debasement. Allah, the Benefactor the Merciful, imposed upon you these duties not out of His need for your performances of these duties.
He imposed them out of His mercy for the purpose of making a distinction between the bad and the good, testing what you bear in your breasts, and examining what you have in your hearts so that you will compete with each other to attain His mercy and have different places in His Paradise. He, therefore, imposed upon you to perform the hajj and umrah, offer prayers, defray the zakat, fast, and embraces the Wilaya. He has also assigned for you an entrance to the doors of the obligatory duties and a key to His course.
Without Muhammad (S.A.W.) and the successors among his sons, you would have been confused, like animals, and you would have been unable to know any of the religious ordinances. How can a city be entered without its door? After He had done you the greatest favor of assigning (definite) leaders after your Prophet, Allah said in His book: On this day I have perfected your religion, completed My favors to you, and have chosen Islam as your religion. (Holy Qur’an 5:3) Allah has also made incumbent upon you to fulfill some rights for your leaders so that your wives, property, food, and drinks will be lawful for you. Allah says:
[Muhammad (S.A.W.)], say, “I do not ask you for any payments for my preaching to you except (your) love of (my near) relatives. (Holy Qur’an 42:23) You should know that whoever behaves miserly does so against his own soul only. Allah is Self-sufficient and you are poor. There is no god but Allah. The speech with you about what is yours and what is against you has been very long.
You would not see my handwriting and would not hear a single letter from me after the departure of the past Imam (A.S.) except for that Allah liked to perfect His favors for you. Meanwhile, you are plunging in negligence of that to which you will inevitably return and I have assigned Ibrahim-bin-Abda as my representative and you have received my message that was conveyed by Mohammed-bin-Musa al-Nisabouri.
Help is sought from Allah only in every condition. Beware of falling short of the duties of Allah lest, you will be with the losing ones. Woe and away with them who disregard the acts of obedience to Allah and reject the admonitions of Allah’s disciples. Allah has ordered you to obey Him, His Messenger, and the men of authority [namely the Holy Imams (A.S.)]. Allah compassionate (you for) your weakness and negligence and help you tolerate your duties. Man is too deceived about his All-Generous Lord. Had the solid rocks understood a part of that which is mentioned in the (Holy) Book, they should have certainly been humbled and rent asunder for anxiety, fear, and return to the obedience to Allah.
Do whatever you like, for surely “Allah and His Messenger will soon make your deeds public, then you will return to Him who has absolute knowledge of the unseen and the seen and He will inform you of what you have done. (Holy Qur’an 9:94) All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds. Peace be upon Muhammad (S.A.W.) and his family entirely.
Source:
Tuhaf al-Uqool
http://shiastudies.com
