Imam Reza (PBUH): Martyrdom foretold in verse
Nov 19, 2017 04:49 UTC
Heartfelt condolences to you all on the last day of Safar, which in addition to marking the end of the annual two-month mourning period for Imam Husain (PBUH) and the Martyrs of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala, is the anniversary of the martyrdom of the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
He is Imam Reza (PBUH), who reposes in eternal peace in Khorasan, northeastern Iran, in the city of Tous which because of the place of his martyrdom became known as Mashhad-or-Reza or simply Mashhad, as it is called today. Stay with us for a special feature on the life and times of the 8th Imam, at whose holy shrines hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pilgrims have assembled today from all over Iran and from various parts of the world.
Imam Reza (PBUH) needs no introduction to anyone familiar with Islam, the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, and Iran’s history, culture, and contemporary events. Born in the Prophet’s city of Medina in 148 AH, and named “Ali” in honour of his illustrious ancestor the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), he was 35 years old when the mantle of the Divine Trust of Imamate came to rest on his shoulders in 183 AH on the martyrdom of Imam Kazem (AS) through poisoning in the dungeon of Baghdad.
For the next twenty years, before his own life was cut short at the age of 55, he spared no efforts to steer the ship of Islam to the shores of salvation through stormy seas of Abbasid tyranny. So dexterously he discharged his duties that he was hailed by the Ummah as “Reza”, or the person who is completely satisfied with the Will of God and with whom all other people, whatever their jurisprudential denomination, and whether friend or foe, are also satisfied.
In 201 AH, Imam Reza (AS) was forcibly brought to the city of Marv in Khorasan by Mamoun, who was afraid of the popularity among the Muslim Ummah of the Prophet’s Heir.
In order to deceive the people, Mamoun outwardly showed respect to Imam Reza (AS) and craftily declared the 8th Imam as his heir apparent, although the Imam was some twenty years older than him. To his horror, he failed to isolate the Imam from the Ummah as the popularity of the Prophet’s Rightful Successor grew every day amongst the people, in view of his exemplary lifestyle, his God-given knowledge and wisdom, and his dynamic debates with the leaders and scholars of various schools of thought and religion.
Mamoun in the vain hope of preserving Abbasid rule, devised a plan to stealthily martyr Imam Reza (AS) through poisoning, and then feigned grief by joining the funeral ceremony and shedding crocodile tears. He then left for Iraq and Baghdad, satisfied that the 8th Imam was buried in a distant land.
Soon, in the course of time, Abbasid rule came to its disgraceful end, and today there are no signs of the caliphs or their tombs, let alone their palaces, while the mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS) has grown into a spacious shrine where millions of people flock from all over Iran and the different parts of the world to pay homage to the person who in further definition of the role of the divinely-designated Imam, said.
“The Imam is a kind father, a helper brother, (could be likened to) a compassionate mother to a minor child, and a refuge for creatures of God in severe calamities.”
“The Imam is the flourishing root of Islam and its prime branch. The Imam is an honest friend, a kind and friendly father, a truly-loyal brother and companion, just like an affectionate and selfless mother towards her young child, and a refuge for Allah’s servants.”
As the faithful have converged on the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) to pay homage to him and bid farewell to the mourning period of his illustrious ancestor Imam Husain (AS), the Martyr of Karbala, here we present you translation of a thought stimulating couplet composed in Arabic by the 8th Imam himself when a poet recited an elegy on the sufferings of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt:
“And a grave is in Tous; what a sorrowful tragedy it is! [This tragedy] with sighs would keep blazing [a profound grief] in the heart;
“Until the Resurrection, when Allah sends the Riser (Qa’em) to relieve us from the distresses and grief;”
It could be called a self-composed obituary on his sufferings by Imam Reza (AS), with tears flowing down his eyes, added this couplet to a moving elegy recited in his presence on the magnitude of tragedies that afflicted the Ahl al-Bayt on the passing away of the Seal of Messengers, with the heartrending martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) in 61 AH being the climax.
The poet was De’bal al-Khaza’i, a descendant of Budayl bin Warqa', at whom the Prophet had smiled during the peaceful surrender of Mecca to the Muslims in 8 AH, and prayed: “May Allah add to the beauty of your dusky face and grant you and your children blessings.”
De’bal, as Imam Reza (AS) listened, referred to the hijacking of the caliphate by a group of neo Muslims who ignored the Prophet’s orders and disobeyed God’s commandments, so explicitly expounded for 23 long years at each and every turn, with the proclamation of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as the divinely-decreed Vicegerent at the grand gathering of Ghadeer-Khom being the crowning moment:
“The Companions of the Shelter (Saqïfa Bani Sa’dah) did not attain an authority because of legacy; rather due to the affair of (their) origin.
“If they had entrusted the reins of the caliphate to the Testamentary Trustee (Wasi – Imam Ali), then they would have been regulated by him who was protected from faults.
“(He) was the Brother of the Last of the Messengers, the one purified of uncleanness, and the one who killed the heroes at the battles.
“If they deny (that), then to him bear witness Ghadeer, Badr, and Ohad whose elevations are high;
“Ayahs of the Qur’an are recited concerning his excellence, his giving food during famines, and his outstanding qualities he attained out of his preceding laudable deeds which none before him had performed.”
At the recitation of these verses, the 8th Imam wept, while De’bal lamented at the unabated grief of the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), beginning with the usurpation of the right of political leadership of her husband, Imam Ali (AS) and battering down upon her of the door of her house by a gang of ruffians that resulted in miscarriage and consequently death for her no sooner did her father departed from the mortal world, said in his elegy that the Noblest Lady of all times, continues to weep even after her death at the tragedies befalling her children:
“O Fatema! If you imagined Husain, who was thrown to the ground and died thirsty by the Euphrates, then you, O Fatema, would strike your cheeks beside him and make the tears of your eye flow on your cheeks.
“O Fatema! Arise O Daughter of the good, and mourn for the stars of the heavens in a deserted land;
“Graves (of your offspring) are in Kufa; others are in Tïba; others are in Fakh; blessings are called down upon them.
“Other (graves) are in the land of al-Jawzjan; a lonely grave is at Bakhamra.
“And a grave is in Baghdad; (it) belongs to a pure soul which the Merciful (Allah) has included in the Paradise.”
On hearing this last mentioned couplet, which referred to the martyrdom of his father Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) through poison by the tyrant Haroun Rashid in the dungeon of Baghdad, Imam Reza (AS) interrupted De’bal and composed the moving couplet predicting his own martyrdom in this far away land of Tous, and giving tidings of the advent of the Promised Saviour of mankind. He asked De’bal to continue and when the poet had completed his lengthy elegy in which he recited:
“Certainly an Imam will appear and rise in the Name of Allah and the blessings;
“He will distinguish among us everything right and wrong, reward for favours and (take) vengeance.”
When the poet told the Imam that although he has firm faith in the Awaited Saviour of mankind but has no idea of his exact identity, Imam Reza (AS) said Imam Mahdi (AS), who will appear in the end times to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice, will be “my Great-Great Grandson”.
De’bal left Marv for Iraq with the most precious reward – a garment of the 8th Imam to be used as burial shroud – and lived till the ripe old age of 97 until he was martyred in Ahvaz by the Abbasids around 245 AH, while Imam Reza (AS), as he had foretold in the couplet he had composed, was soon martyred on the last day of the month of Safar, 203 AH at the age of 55 by Mamoun through poisoning in the city of Tous, where in its environs, he was laid to rest.
His burial site was soon transformed into a mausoleum. Today Tous is known as the bustling city of Mashhad (literally place of martyrdom) where stands the sprawling golden-domed shrine of the 8th Imam, beckoning pilgrims from all over the world, and guiding them towards paradise via the straight and unwavering path of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.
AS/ME
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