The honorable Sayyid Razi, in his book of Al-Manaqibul Faakhira fil Itratit Taahira, has narrated through his chains of narrators from Abdullah Ibne Masud that he said: One day I went to meet Messenger of Allah (s) and said:
O Messenger of Allah (s), please show the truth to me so that I may follow it.
His Eminence said: Go into that dark store room and you would see the truth over there.
Ibne Masud says: When I went into that dark store room I saw Imam Ali (a) engrossed in prayers and after the prayers he supplicated Almighty Allah in the following words:
O God, I adjure You by Your servant and messenger, Muhammad Mustafa (s) to forgive my sinful Shia.
Ibne Masud says: After that when I went to Messenger of Allah (s) to inform him about this, I found him in prayers and after the prayers he supplicated Almighty Allah in the following words:
O God, I adjure You by Your servant, Ali (a) to forgive the disobedient people of my nation.
I was extremely moved to see that and I swooned. Messenger of Allah (s) looked up and said: Ibne Masud, do you want to choose disbelief after faith?
I replied: God’s refuge! (How can I?). But the point is that I saw Ali (a) adjuring Almighty Allah through you in order to beseech God to forgive his sinful Shia and then I observed you adjuring God through Ali for the forgiveness of the sinful from your nation. Now I am confused which of you commands more respect in the court of Allah?
Messenger of Allah (s) replied: Ibne Masud, Almighty Allah created me, Ali, Hasan and Husain two thousand years before the creation of other creatures through the effulgence ofHis greatness and when we were born, there was no existence of divine praise and glorification. Allah split my effulgence and through it created the heavens and the earth; that is why I am superior to the heavens and the earth.
Allah split the effulgence of Ali (a) and through it created the Arsh and the Kursi; therefore, Ali is superior to the Arsh and the Kursi.
Allah split the effulgence of Hasan (a) and through it created the Tablet and the Pen; therefore, Hasan is superior to the Tablet and the Pen.
Allah split the effulgence of Husain (a) and through it created the Paradise and the Hourul Ein; therefore, Husain is superior to Paradise and the Hourul Ein.
Then Almighty Allah imposed darkness over the easts and the wests. The angels complained to God regarding the darkness, saying:
O God, we adjure You through these effulgent bodies that You have created; please remove this darkness from us.
Almighty Allah created a spirit and joined it to another spirit. From them He created a light. Then He added effulgence to that spirit and from that created Lady Zahra (s). Due to this sparkle and light she was named Zahra. Thus the easts and the wests lit up due to her light.
Ibne Masud, on Judgment Day, Almighty Allah would say to me and Ali (a):
You (two) may send to Paradise whoever you like and to Hell whoever you want, as is the command of Almighty Allah:
“You two cast into hell every ungrateful, rebellious one.”1
1 Surah Qaf 50:24
‘Kaffaar’ is one that denies my prophethood and ‘Aneed’ is one who is inimical to Ali, his Ahle Bayt and his Shia.2
2 Kitabul Fadhail, Ibne Shazaan, Pg. 128-129.
2- In Misbahul Anwaar, Shaykh Abu Ja’far Tusi has narrated from Malik bin Anas that he said: One day, after the Morning Prayer, when the Messenger of Allah (s) looked at us, I asked:
O Messenger of Allah (s), please explain to us the following verse:
“…these are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and a goodly company are they!”3
3 Surah Nisa 4:69.
His Eminence said:
I am the most excellent of the prophets; Ali is the most excellent of the Truthful; my uncle, Hamza is the most excellent of the martyrs the most excellent of the ‘good’ are my daughter, Fatima and her sons: Hasan and Husain.
At that time Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet was also present there. He asked the Prophet:
Are you, I, Ali, Hasan, Husain and Fatima not members of the same clan? And it is odd that I am not included anywhere, while Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain are mentioned everywhere?
The Messenger of Allah (s) smiled at the objection of Abbas and said:
Dear uncle, as far as a clan is concerned, you are absolutely right; but the point is that Almighty Allah created me, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain before the creation of Adam and He created us when there was neither the canopy of the sky nor the carpet of the earth; there was neither darkness nor light; neither Hell nor Paradise, neither Sun was created nor the Moon.
Abbas said: O Messenger of Allah (s), what was process of your creation?
He replied: Uncle, when Almighty Allah intended to create us, He mentioned a word from which a light was created. Then He mentioned another word through which He created the soul. Then He joined the soul to the effulgence. Then He created me, my brother, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain. We were reciting His praise when there was no existence of divine praise and we glorified Him when there was no trace of any glorification before.
After that when Almighty Allah intended to create this universe, He split my effulgence. From it He created the Arsh; the effulgence of the Arsh is a part of my effulgence and my effulgence is superior to the effulgence of the Arsh.
Then He split the effulgence of my brother, Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a) and from it created the light of the angels. The light of the angels is a part of the light of Ali. The light of Ali is superior to the angels.
Then He split the light of my daughter, Fatima and through it created the heavens and the earth. The light of my daughter, Fatima is superior to the light of the heavens and the earth.
Then He split the light of my son, Hasan and from it created the Sun and the Moon. The light of my son, Hasan is superior to the light of the Sun and the Moon.
Then He split the light of my son, Husain and from it created the Paradise and Hourul Ein. The light of my son, Husain is superior to the light of Paradise and Hourul Ein.
Then Almighty Allah commanded the darkness to envelop the heavens. Thus, when the darkness dominated the heavens the angels were also covered with darkness. They increased their praise and glorification and said:
O our Lord, since You created us You introduced these effulgent bodies to us and since then we did not encounter any problem or hardship. We adjure You in the name of those effulgent bodies to remove this darkness.
After that Almighty Allah created some lanterns through the effulgence of my daughter, which He suspended in the center of the Arsh. Due to the light of these lanterns, the heavens and the earth became illuminated brightly. Due to this light my daughter, Fatima got the title of Zahra.
The angels asked: O God, to whom does this bright light belongs, which has illuminated the heavens and the earth?
Almighty Allah revealed to them: It is effulgence that I created by My greatness through the light of Fatima, daughter of my beloved, wife of the brother of My Prophet and father of My Divine Proofs.
O Angels, bear witness that I deem the rewards of your glorifications to be for this lady and her followers (Shia) and their devotees to be born till the Judgment Day.
When Abbas heard this from Messenger of Allah (s), he arose, kissed Ali’s forehead and said:
By God, you are the ‘The Conclusive Argument of God’!1
1 Misbahul Anwaar, Pg. 69; Tawilul Ayaat, Vol. 1, Pg. 137.