Sayyidah Nafisah, the daughter of Hasan Ibn Zaid Ibn Hasan al-Mujtaba (a.s)) married Ishaq Mutamin, the pious and virtuous son of Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s). She was of the rare and distinguished ladies of her time and stood apart from the rest with regards to worship and remembrance of Allah.
Zainab, her niece, states: “I had been in the services of my aunt for forty years and throughout this period neither did I ever observe her sleep at night (for she would be engaged in worship) nor eat in the day (for she would be engaged in fasting). Once I said to her: “Would it not be better if you were to ease things upon yourself?” She replied: “How can I place myself in ease when I have before me the bottlenecks of the Purgatory and the Day of Judgment which none can cross save the delivered ones!”
She possessed great wealth, which she used to spend on the sick, the bed-ridden and the impoverished ones for the pleasure of Allah.
She had the honour of performing the Hajj on thirty occasions – most of her journeys to the House of Allah being accomplished on foot. Once, in the company of her husband, she started out from Madinah for Palestine in order to visit the grave of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) after which she proceeded towards Egypt.
The inhabitants of Egypt requested her to settle down there and she agreed. She dug a grave in her house and perpetually engaged herself in worship and remembrance of Allah – reportedly completing thousands of recitations of the Noble Qur`an in the grave.
According to Hadith-e-Qudsi, when Allah observes that a servant of His continually engages himself in His remembrance, He manifests the person’s worth amongst the people and makes him respected and revered.
In the neighbourhood of Nafisah there lived a Jew, who had a daughter who was blind. By means of the water of Nafisah’s Wudhhu, the Jew’s daughter regained her sight and this prompted numerous Jews of Egypt to accept Islam.
One day, in a state of fast, as she recited the chapter al-Anam of the Noble Qur`an, upon reciting the verse:
لَهُمْ دَارُ السَّلاَمِ عِنْدَ رَبِّـهِمْ
“They shall have the abode of peace with their Lord”
her soul departed from her body. The people wanted her to be buried in Egypt but her husband, desiring to take her to Madinah, refused. At night the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) appeared to him in his dream and said: “Do not oppose the people of Egypt in connection with Nafisah’s burial since Allah shall descend His mercy upon them as a result of her blessed presence there.”( Shagirdan-e-Maktab-e-Aimmah, pg. 168; Wafiyyat al-A’yan, vol. 5, pg. 56 )