His son, Shamsuddin narrated to me that his father said that an abscess came up on his left thigh and became as big as a fist. This abscess was there for a long time and it particularly gave himsevere pain during the spring season. He used to lose a lot of blood throughit. He said that he wasn’t able to properly offer his mandatory prayers because of the abscess. He worried so much about this that he went from his village tothe town of Hilla. There he met Sayyid Raziuddin Ibne Taaoos, who was the mosteminent scholar of the Shia during those days although he wasn’t recognized as their Pontiff, only, perhaps because he abstained from issuing edicts to the believers. Ismail Harqali met him and explained his problem to him.
Sayyid Raziuddin called all the physicians
of Hilla and sought their advice. They suggested that the only possible cure
was the amputation of the abscessed limb. But they also said that there was
great risk even in amputation, because there was the risk of severance of some
vital veins in the process of amputation. The physicians were believer, and
they didn’t want to give him careless advice.
Sayyid Raziuddin told Ismail Harqali: “The
Shariah gives permission to offer your prayers despite the impurity of the pus oozing from the abscess.” He said, in fact,
prayers in such excruciating conditions will be doubly felicitous. Now, there
was only one city, Baghdad, where there could perhaps be a possibility of his
finding a cure. Baghdad was the capital of the realm of Islam and scholars of
all disciplines were assembled there. Ismail Harqali thought that he must head
for Baghdad. He met the personal physician of the Caliph and went to heavy
expenses to take his treatment. He spent all his money, but the cure was not in
sight. He had spent all his funds and was then subject to abject penury.
He now thought that he would go and seek
the help of the Imam Zamana (a.s.) in Samarrah. Therefore, he proceeded from
Baghdad to Samarrah. For many days he continued to visit the Mausoleum of the
Imams (a.s.) and also visited the cellar from where the Last Imam (a.s.) went
into hiding. Although the cellar at Samarrah isn’t the abode of the Imam
(a.s.), it is certainly associated with his memory. Many days went by when he
thought that there was no hope of his recovery from the abscess and he was
thinking of returning home disappointed. He thought that he had left his wife
and children at home long enough and that he must go back to them.
Therefore, the next morning, early with the
sunrise, he went out of the ramparts of the city. Near the ramparts was flowing
the river Tigris. He took a bath there and wanted to visit the mausoleums to
bid adieu to the Imams (a.s.). He changed into a clean dress and carried water
in a pitcher for cleaning the abscess if it suppurated.. This was as a caution
for his entering the mausoleum in a clean state. As he entered
the ramparts of the town, he found four persons cantering on horses towards
him. Their personalities and garments were different from those of the
Samarrans. He thought that they must be some travelers passing through the
town. They came near him and suddenly stopped. Two of them were youths. They
came and stood on his left. There was one elderly person who stood on the other
side.
The fourth person, who was neither a youth nor
an old person, stood in front of him and inquired about the condition of the
abscess and said that he would like to inspect it. He replied that the abscess
was increasing by the day. Ismail thought that he had just cleaned himself and
was going for the Ziyarat. He was wondering if he would lose his cleanliness if
the person touched his abscess. He therefore refused to oblige. Now, the person
strongly protested why he wasn’t willing to show them his abscess? Then the
person bent low, pushed aside the garment from his thigh, held the abscess in
his hands. Suddenly the pus gushed out from the abscess. He felt pain for a
while, but was relieved soon thereafter. Then the person put his hand over the
area of the abscess and it looked completely cured. The person put back his
garment in its place and said, “O Ismail! You are now fully healed!” He
wondered who this person was? How could he know his name? He asked, puzzled and
amazed, “How is it that you know me by name?!” The elderly person standing on
his right said, “Ismail! Greet him! He is your Imam Zamana (a.s.)!” Ismail
greeted the Imam (a.s.). But replying to his greeting he swiftly mounted the
steed and the four persons sped away from sight in no time! Ismail tried to
sprint behind the horse of the Imam (a.s.). For once the Imam (a.s.) stopped
his horse and asked him to turn back. He continued to
run behind the Imam’s steed. He stopped a second time, and a third time when he
said angrily, “O Ismail! I am your Imam-e-Zamana and I have asked you twice not
to follow me! Even then in sheer disobedience you continued to follow us!”
Ismail was taken aback. He turned back towards Samarrah. It was early morning
and people were stirring out of their homes. He asked them if they had seen the
four persons speeding through the town on their steeds. They replied in the
affirmative. Ismail asked them if they knew the four riders? They said that
they didn’t know them, but their faces and attire indicated that they were not
from that area. Then Ismail said that they had deprived themselves the
opportunity of meeting Imam Zamana (a.s.). People gathered around him and asked
if he had been able to meet the Imam (a.s.). He told them that he was visiting
Samarrah seeking a cure for the abscess on his thigh. He informed them that the
Imam (a.s.) himself touched the abscess and it was instantly cured. The persons
removed the cloth from his thigh to see if that was the case. They also
inspected the other thigh. There wasn’t any sign if ever there was an abscess
on any of his thighs. The persons snatched away small pieces of his garment to
keep with themselves as a memento. They said that Ismail was the fortunate
person, whose body was touched by the Imam (a.s.). He went with difficulty to
the inn, changed into a fresh garment and started for Baghdad.
When he reached the Baghdad Bridge, he saw a wondrous scene. The story of his miraculous cure had preceded him and there was a huge crowd waiting for him on the bridge. Whenever any traveler reached thebridge, they would ask his name and then let him pass. Ismail didn’t know why they were
asking the name of the new arrivals. When he told them that he was Ismail
Harqali, they caught hold of him as was done by the men in Samarrah. It was
almost a stampede and he was about to swoon and fall down. Then he noticed
Sayyid Raziuddin Ibne Taaoos coming towards him with a big crowd following him.
He asked the men to allow him some fresh air.
Hearing his admonition, the men moved away
from Ismail. Sayyid Raziuddin caught hold of his shoulder and took him to his
house in Baghdad. He told Ismail that the entire populace in Baghdad knew about
his miraculous cure. Ismail related to him the entire episode. He told him that
not only the story was correct, but the Imam (a.s.) had sent a personal message
for Sayyid Raziuddin. Sayyid Raziuddin immediately offered a prayer of
thanksgiving and took him along to the caliph.
The caliph was a follower of the Aale
Muhammad (s.a). Sayyid Raziuddin recounted the entire event to the vizier. The
vizier informed about it to the caliph. The caliph called them immediately to
his court and ordered all the eminent physicians of Baghdad to immediately
report at the court. They all came there. The caliph asked them if they
remembered Ismail who approached them some days ago for the treatment of the
abscess on his thigh. They confirmed that they did inspect the abscess and also
that they thought that it wasn’t possible to treat it. The only alternative was
the amputation of the limb. The caliph asked, if the abscess had healed, what
would have been the result? They replied that if the abscess really healed, it
would leave an ugly mark on the spot for at least two months or more, which
would then turn into a white mark that the person would carry for his entire
life. Now, the caliph asked Ismail to move his garment from the spot where the
abscess was. The physicians inspected it minutely and were surprised that there
wasn’t any mark of the abscess there and the skin was as healthy as that of a
normal person.
One of the physicians was a Christian. He
said that what happened could only be a miracle of Hazrat Isa (a.s.). Now, the
team of the physicians was sent away. The caliph wanted to give to Ismail a
thousand Dinars as a gift, which he politely refused. The caliph was surprised
why he was not accepting the gratuity. He said that the one, who cured him has
ordered him not to accept any gift. Ismail now went back to the place of Sayyid
Raziuddin Ibne Taaoos. He wrote a letter to Ali Ibne Owais, who sent to Ismail
a purse containing 1,000 Dinars. When Ismail Harqali returned to his village,
his son saw the thigh and was surprised that the abscess had totally
disappeared and there was no mark left! Even hair had grown at that spot as it
normally does.
Ali bin Isa says: I asked Safiuddin
Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Bashir Alawi Musawi and Najmuddin Haider Ibne Aisar
about this incident. These two were my friends among the important
personalities of that time and they had seen Ismail bin Hasan in that illness
and healthy after that and they testified it.
Also his son, Shamsuddin narrated: After
this incident, my father used to remain very sorrowful due to the separation.
Thus, he used to go and stay in Baghdad during the whole of winter and travel
to Samarrah and perform the Ziyarat. This year he performed Ziyarat for the
fortieth time only in the hope that perhaps he gets the same chance again to
see Imam Zamana (a.s.). But may Allah have mercy on him; he passed away this
year with the hope that he will see the Imam again.
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