Kitāb al-Ghayba

وقد بينا فساد قول الذاهبين إلى إمامة جعفر بن علي من الفطحية الذين قالوا بإمامة عبد الله بن جعفر لما مات الصادق عليه السلام، فلما مات عبد الله ولم يخلف ولدا رجعوا إلى القول بإمامة موسى بن جعفر ومن بعده إلى الحسن بن علي عليه السلام، فلما مات الحسن عليه السلام قالوا بإمامة جعفر. وقول هؤلاء يبطل من وجوه أفسدناها، ولأنه لا خلاف بين الإمامية أن الإمامة لا تجتمع في أخوين بعد الحسن والحسين وقد رووا في ذلك أخبارا كثيرة.

We also demonstrated the invalidity of the promoters of the Imamate of Ja’far Ibn Ali, namely, the Fatahiyya, who believe in the Imamate of Abdullah Ibn Ja’far after the demise of Imam Sadiq (a.s). And when Abdullah passed away without leaving any son, they came back to the Imamate of Musa Ibn Ja’far and after him proclaimed the Imamate of Hasan Ibn Ali. And when Hasan Ibn Ali died, they claimed the Imamate of Ja’far. Their belief is false for the reasons we invalidated the Imamate of Ja’far Ibn Ali and because there is no disagreement amongst the Imamiyah that Imamate cannot pass from one brother to another after Hasan and Husain and we have brought in that regard great many traditions.

190- منها ما رواه سعد بن عبد الله عن محمد بن الوليد الخزاز عن يونس بن يعقوب قال:سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: أبى الله أن يجعل الإمامة لأخوين بعد الحسن والحسين عليهما السلام.

H 190 - Narrated Saad bin Abdullah from Muhammad bin Walid Khazzaz from Yunus bin Yaqub from Abi Abdullah (a.s) that he said: “Allah does not accept to appoint to it (the Imamate) two brothers after Hasan and Husain (a.s).”

191- عنه عن محمد بن الحسين بن أبي الخطاب عن سليمان بن جعفر عن حماد بن عيسى الجهني قال: قال أبوعبدالله عليه السلام: لا تجتمع الإمامة في أخوين بعد الحسن والحسين عليهما السلام. إنما هي في الأعقاب وأعقاب الأعقاب.

H 191 - Narrated to us Muhammad bin Husain bin Abil Khattab from Sulaiman bin Ja’far from Hammad bin Isa Jehni from Abi Abdullah (a.s) that he said: “The Imamate will never come together in two brothers after Hasan and Husain (a.s). It will continue in his (Husain’s) progeny one generation after another.”

192- وروى محمد بن عبد الله بن جعفر الحميري عن أبيه عن محمد بن عيسى بن عبيد عن يونس بن عبد الرحمن عن الحسين بن ثوير بن أبي فاختة عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: لا تعود الإمامة في أخوين بعد الحسن والحسين عليهماالسلام أبدا. إنها جرت من علي بن الحسين عليه السلام كما قال عز وجل: ﴿وَأُولُوا الْأَرْحامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتابِ اللَّهِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ والْمُهاجِرِينَ.﴾

H 192 - Narrated to us my father and Muhammad bin Hasan - May Allah be pleased with them – they said: Narrated to us Saad bin Abdullah and Abdullah bin Ja’far Himyari, all of them from Muhammad bin Isa bin Ubaid from Yunus bin Abdur Rahman from Husain bin Thuwair bin Abi Fakhta from Abi Abdullah (a.s) that he said: “The Imamate will never be diverted between two brothers after Hasan and Husain; it proceeds from Ali Ibn Husain, as Allah, the Blessed and Sublime, said: “Some of those who are bound by blood are closer (to each other) than others in the Book of Allah.”

فلا تكون بعد علي بن الحسين عليه السلام إلا في الأعقاب وأعقاب الأعقاب.

Thus after Ali Ibn Husain (a.s) Imamate continued in his generations one after another.

ومنها أنه لا خلاف أنه لم يكن معصوما، وقد بينا أن من شرط الإمام أن يكون معصوما، وما ظهر من أفعاله ينافي العصمة.

Another reason is that there is no disagreement that Ja’far was not infallible, while it is proved that an Imam has to be infallible. His actions contradict his being infallible.

193- وقد روي أنه لما ولد لأبي الحسن عليه السلام جعفر هنئوه به فلم يروا به سرورا، فقيل له في ذلك فقال: هون عليك أمره سيضل خلقا كثيرا.

H 193 - It is narrated that when Ja’far was born to Abul Hasan (a.s), people congratulated him, but they did not see any signs of joy in him. He was asked about it. The Imam replied, “Take his birth easy; he will misguide many.”

194- وروى سعد بن عبد الله قال: حدثني جماعة منهم أبو هاشم داود بن القاسم الجعفري والقاسم بن محمد العباسي ومحمد بن عبيد الله ومحمد بن إبراهيم العمري وغيرهم ممن كان حبس بسبب قتل عبد الله بن محمد العباسي أن أبا محمد عليه السلام وأخاه جعفرا دخلا عليهم ليلا، قالوا: كنا ليلة من الليالي جلوسا نتحدث إذ سمعنا حركة باب السجن فراعنا ذلك، وكان أبو هاشم عليلا، فقال لبعضنا: اطلع وانظر ما ترى. فاطلع إلى موضع الباب فإذا الباب فتح وإذا هو برجلين قد أدخلا إلى السجن ورد الباب وأقفل. فدنا منهما فقال: من أنتما؟ فقال أحدهما: نحن قوم من الطالبية، حبسنا. فقال: من أنتما؟ فقال: أنا الحسن بن علي وهذا جعفر بن علي. فقال لهما: جعلني الله فداكما، إن رأيتما أن تدخلا البيت. وبادر إلينا وإلى أبي هاشم فأعلمنا ودخلا. فلما نظر إليهما أبو هاشم قام عن مضربة كانت تحته، فقبل وجه أبي محمد عليه السلام وأجلسه عليها، وجلس جعفر قريبا منه،فقال جعفر: واشطناه! بأعلى صوته،يعني جارية له. فزجره أبو محمد عليه السلام وقال له: اسكت. وأنهم رأوا فيه آثار السكر وأن النوم غلبه وهو جالس معهم فنام على تلك الحال. وما روي فيه وله من الأفعال والأقوال الشنيعة أكثر من أن تحصى، ننزه كتابنا عن ذلك.

H 194 - Saad bin Abdullah said: Narrated to me a group of scholars including Abu Hashim Dawood bin Qasim Ja’fari and Qasim bin Muhammad Abbasi and Muhammad bin Ubaidullah and Muhammad bin Ibrahim Amari etc. who were imprisoned for killing Abdullah bin Muhammad Abbasi that: One night Imam Hasan Askari (a.s) and his brother, Ja’far came to the prison. And they said: [The story went like this] One night we were sitting together and talking among ourselves when unlocking of the prison gate was heard and it terrified us. Abu Hashim, who was unwell, told one of us: See what’s happening. That person went to the gate, which was open and they were putting two men in the jail, after which they closed and locked the gate again. [My friends] went to them and asked: Who are you? One of them said: We are from the Talibiyyin tribe and have been arrested. He again asked: What is your name? He replied: I am Hasan bin Ali and this is my brother, Ja’far bin Ali. Our friend said: May I be sacrificed on you, if you feel right, please come to my house [my cell in prison]. He came to us and Abu Hashim and informed us of this. After that the two of them entered. When Abu Hashim saw them, he got up from the rug he was sitting on and kissed the face of Abu Muhammad and made him sit on it and Ja’far also sat with him. Ja’far called out aloud to his slave girl: Washtana. Abu Muhammad scolded him and ordered: Shut up. The inmates also saw that signs of intoxication were apparent on the face of Ja’far while he sat with them, sleep overcame him and he went to sleep in that same position. His shameful actions and sayings that are narrated are more than to be counted and we will keep ourselves clean by not mentioning them.

فأما من قال إن للخلف ولدا وإن الأئمة ثلاثة عشر، فقولهم يفسد بما دللنا عليه من أن الأئمة عليهم السلام اثنا عشر. فهذا القول يجب إطراحه، على أن هذه الفرق كلها قد انقرضت بحمد الله ولم يبق قائل يقول بقولها، وذلك دليل على بطلان هذه الأقاويل.

As for the one who says that the successor has a son and that the Imams are thirteen, their assertion is invalid, because of our proofs that the Imams are twelve. Therefore, this assertion has to be discarded. Reminder: Besides, all these sects have perished, thanks to God, and there is not a person who would uphold any of these beliefs, and this itself is the proof of their falsity.

فصل: فأما الكلام في ولادة صاحب الزمان وصحتها فأشياء إعتبارية وأشياء إخبارية: فأما الاعتبارية فهو أنه إذا ثبت إمامته بما دللنا عليه من الاقسام، وإفساد كل قسم منها إلا القول بإمامته ثبت إمامته وعلمنا بذلك صحة ولادته إن لم يرد فيه خبر أصلا. وأيضا ما دللنا عليه من أن الائمة اثنا عشر يدل على صحة ولادته، لان العدد لا يكون إلا لموجود. وما دللنا على أن صاحب الامر لابد له من غيبتين يؤكد ذلك، لان كل ذلك مبني على صحة ولادته. وأما تصحيح ولادته من جهة الاخبار فسنذكر في هذا الكتاب طرفا مما روي فيه جملة وتفصيلا، ونذكر بعد ذلك جملة من أخبار من شاهده ورآه، لأن استيفاء ما روي في هذا المعنى يطول به الكتاب.

We will discuss the birth of Imam Mahdi (a.s) and its authenticity in two ways: (1) Rational and (2) Textual. As for the part which is rational - it comprises of the fact that when the birth of Imam is proved from different sayings and reports, through which we proved the Imamate of His Eminence; and all the statements, except belief in his Imamate are proved invalid. From the same aspect, even if no report had been recorded about it, we would have known about the correctness of report of the birth of His Eminence. In the same way, reasoning based on that the Imams are twelve also proved the authenticity of the birth of His Eminence, because the completion of the figure proves validity of this belief. In the same way, reports which say that the Master of the Age (a.s) is having two occultations, is support and verification of the birth of the Imam, because all these secondary matters are based on the validity of the birth of His Eminence. As for proving the birth of Imam (a.s) through traditional reports, we will soon present some of them, which are mentioned in brief or in detail. After that we would mention the reports of those who saw the Imam. We will mention only some, as to mention them all would prolong the book.