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Shaykh Mirza Abdul Jawad Mahallati narrates – Shaykh Mohammed Taqi Qazvini, the head of the madrasah was unmatched in the matters of knowledge and action, in piety and in his efforts for religion. He used to say that he had only one dua from Allah which he used to recite frequently at every place, even in the shrine of Hazrat Ameerul Momeneen Ali (as) and the dua was that he should get the opportunity to meet Imam Mahdi (as).He says that I used to plead and frequently recite these sentences from Dua Ahad – Allahumma Arinit Tal’atar Rasheedah, Wal Ghurrratal Hameedah (O Allah, (please do) show me his magnificent appearance and his praiseworthy forehead; delight my eyes by letting me have a look at him…)
Once it so happened that he was afflicted by tuberculosis (TB). While he was extremely poor, he had a high sense of independence and self respect due to which he would not speak about his condition to any person. Hence, ordinarily, people would not come to know of happenings in his life. His disease progressed till such time that when he coughed, blood would come out. Due to this, he was put in a small common room so that if he coughed blood, it would not soil a good room. For many days, he remained in this room and his treatment continued. However there was no improvement in his condition and whenever he coughed, blood continued to emerge so much so that people became hopeless about his cure. They did not expect that he would ever be cured from this dangerous disease.
However after some days, the news became common amongst the people that he has been cured completely. This news stumped the people since his disease had progressed so much that people were no having any hope that he would be cured. The question on everyone’s lips was how did he get cured? This seems to be the work of some invisible force since it was not possible for any ordinary person to cure him. People began visiting him and questioning him about his miraculous recovery.
Shaykh Mohammed Taqi replied, One night, my condition worsened such that I was not having the strength to breath leave aside the strength to move. I was not in my senses and in this way, the night progressed slowly till such time that the whiteness of the morning was visible in the horizon. Suddenly I saw that a man entered the roof of the house. He was carrying a chair which he placed in front of me. Hardly some moments had passed that another person entered the roof and sat on the chair. At that moment, I became aware that the person is Hazrat Ameerul Momeneen Ali Ibne Abi Talib (as). He (as) turned towards me and said, how is your health?
I replied, O my master and lord! I desire that I should be cured of this disease and that I should be relieved of my life of poverty.
He (as) replied, as regards your disease, you are cured. Now you have no illness. I said, , O my master and lord! What about my dua which I recited every morning and evening in your mausoleum?
He replied, tomorrow before the sun rises, come to so and so place in Wadi-Us-Salaam. When you reach the place, sit down on the road which comes from Karbala. At that time, my son Hazrat Imam Mahdi (as) (as) will come from Karbala. He will be accompanied by two companions. Convey salutations to him and follow him wherever he goes. Thereafter I returned to my senses and saw that there was no one there.
At that time, I thought I was hallucinating or that I must have seen this vision in a dream. However when I saw that I had not coughed for quite some time and basically, I felt quite well. I was amazed that I had been completely cured. The entire day passed and night fell, yet I had not coughed at all. Now I began to think that if the promise of Ameerul Momeneen (as) comes true then it will be a great fortune for me.
At morning, before sun rise, I reached the place which Hazrat (as) had directed me to. I turned in the direction of the road from Karbala and sat there. I waited there at the peak of my anticipation for meeting with my master when suddenly I saw three men coming along the road. One of these men walked ahead of the others with a regal demeanour. When I saw this scene, I was overcome by such awe that when they came close to me, I was unable to say anything else other than salaam.
They continued walking along the wall of the city which leads to the special place of Imam Mahdi (as). When we reached there, the Sayyed entered the room and sat at a special place. The other two men stood silently at the door of the room. I too stood next to them till such time that the sun arose. I could control myself further. I began thinking in my mind – let me enter and kiss the feet of my master Imam Mahdi (as). As soon as I entered the room, I saw that there was no one there. I was stunned at this scene. It was as if the entire world became dark for a couple of moments. When I came to my senses, I searched all over for him, but I could not find him.
Ref: Barakaate’ Wali Asr, page 103
Lessons from this incident
There are several lessons which can be derived from this incident. Some of these are as follows:
It is a fact that if one seeks his legitimate desires in the shrines of the Imams (as), then if it is not harmful for him, then these desires are accepted by the Imams (as). The shrine of Hazrat Ameerul Momeneen is one where one feels that his heart opens up to seek his desires from the Imam. He feels as if he is in front of a benevolent father who is urging him to ask his desires.
At these holy places, one should not forsake the dua for early reappearance of Hazrat Imam Mahdi (as). A person says that when he visited the shrine of Imam Ali (as) in Najaf, he saw a person who remained in the state of prostration for about 20-25 minutes and was seeking only one dua – Allahumma Ajjil le Waliyekal Faraf – O Allah, hasten the reappearance of your Proof!
In another incident he narrates how he saw a Bohra person push his son forward towards the Zarih asking him to pray for the long life of their leader. A thought came to mind, if these people who are on the wrong path pray so much for their leader, how much should our duas be for our Imam (as) who is the rightful leader from Allah.
One should not forsake the Ziyarat of Atraaf at any of the holy places, either in Hajj or Ziyarat.