Allamah al-Hilli narrates:
‘One Thursday night, I went alone for the visitation of Imam Husayn (A). I was riding on my donkey and had my whip in my hand. On the way, an Arab man walking alone, passed by and
joined me on my journey. We began talking and we discussed various religious and spiritual issues. It turned out that I would ask this Arab man questions regarding many problems and unresolved issues I had, one after another, and he would provide satisfactory and correct answers each time!
‘Eventually, the discussion arrived at one particular issue about which I declared the opposite opinion. I said to him, “There is no narration to support this view.” The Arab man immediately replied, “The narration is found in [such-and-such] chapter of the book, al-Tahdhib, by Shaykh al-Tusi.” Upon hearing this, I fell into deep thought and asked myself, “Who could this man possibly be?”
‘The man then asked me, “Allamah, is it possible in the period of the long occultation, to see the Master of the Age or not?” At this question, I was overcome and dropped my riding whip to the floor. The man picked up the whip and returned it back to me, answering his own question by asking, “But how is it not possible to see the Master of the Age when his hand is in yours?” Involuntarily, I fell from my mount. I went to kiss the feet of the Imam but fell unconscious. When I awoke, I did not see anyone.
‘After I returned to my house I opened the book al-Tahdhib to the page [the Imam had mentioned] and saw that the narration the Imam had referred to was present, exactly as he had said. And so I decided to write in the footnotes of the book, al-Tahdhib, “I was guided to this narration by the Master of the Affair.”’
The Ways Of The Righteous Vol. 1