By God’s leave, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) knew the unseen, and by the permission of the Lord he could be informed of the future and of hidden matters. Fatimah was a part of his own body, and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was his brother and successor. He wept over the hardship and suffering that would befall his Ahl al-Bayt.
Tears of Estrangement
One day, Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her), Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him), and Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Hussain (peace be upon them both) came into the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) one after another. Each time the Messenger of God’s gaze fell on one of them, he wept.
Ibn Abbas narrated: “One day the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) was sitting when Imam al-Hasan (peace be upon him) entered. When the Prophet saw him, he wept and said: ‘Come to me, come to me, my son.’ He drew him close until he seated him on his right thigh.
Then Imam al-Hussain (peace be upon him) came. When the Seal of the Prophets saw him, he wept and said: ‘Come to me, come to me, my son.’ And he seated him on his left thigh.
Then Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) came. When he saw her, he wept and said: ‘Come to me, come to me, my daughter.’ He drew her close until he seated her in front of him.
Then Amir al-Muminin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) came. When the Seal of the Prophets saw him, he wept and said: ‘Come to me, come to me, my brother.’ He drew him close until he seated him on his right side.
The companions said: ‘O Messenger of God, you wept at the sight of each of these. Is there not one among them whose presence brings you joy?’
The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: ‘By the One who sent me as a Prophet in truth, made me a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, and chose me above all creation, I and these are the most honored of creation in the sight of God, the Mighty and Exalted, and there is no one on earth dearer to me than they.'”
From the Nation’s Betrayal to the Martyrdom of Amir al-Muminin
The Seal of the Prophets foresaw that Amir al-Muminin would face treachery from the nation and be kept away from the station that was rightfully his. This would continue until he was martyred in the blessed month of Ramadan.
The Messenger of God looked at Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) and said: “As for Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), he is my brother, my well-wisher, the master of the affair after me, my standard-bearer in this world and the Hereafter, the keeper of my Pond and my intercession, the guardian of every believer and the leader of every God-fearing person. He is my trustee and successor over my nation, in my lifetime and after my passing. His lover is my lover, and his enemy is my enemy. Through his Wilayah, my nation received mercy, and after my passing, through opposing him, it incurred the curse.
I wept when I saw him, for I remembered the nation’s betrayal of him after me, until they push him aside from the station that God has appointed for him after me.
Then this continues until a blow is struck upon his head, so that his beard is dyed with the blood of his head, in the most excellent of months, the month of Ramadan, the month in which the Quran was sent down as guidance for the people, with clear signs of guidance and the criterion.”
The Sufferings of the Leader of the Women of Paradise
The Prophet of Islam spoke of the sorrows and sufferings awaiting Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) after his martyrdom, and he asked God to punish those who would wrong her.
Explaining the reason for his weeping over his daughter, the Seal of the Prophets said: “As for my daughter Fatimah (peace be upon her), she is the leader of the women of the worlds, from the first to the last. She is a part of my body, the light of my eyes, the fruit of my heart, and my soul that lies between my two sides. She is a heavenly angel in human form. Whenever she stands in prayer in her place of worship before her Lord, her light shines for the angels of heaven just as the stars shine for the people of the earth.
Then God, the Mighty and Exalted, says to the angels: ‘O My angels, look at Fatimah, the leader of the women of My creation, standing before Me. Her body trembles out of fear of Me, and she has turned to My worship with her whole heart. I make you witnesses that I have granted her Shias safety from the Fire.’
When I saw her, I remembered what will befall her after me. It is as though I see humiliation entering her house, her sanctity violated, her right usurped, her inheritance denied, her side broken, and the child in her womb miscarried, while she cries out: ‘O Muhammad!’
But she receives no answer; she seeks help, but no one comes to her aid. After me she will always be sorrowful, grief-stricken, and weeping. At times she will remember the cutting off of revelation from her house, and at times the separation from me. Whenever night falls, she will feel lonely at my absence and at the loss of the voice she used to hear from me reciting the Quran in the night prayer. Then they will see her humiliated, after she had been dear and honored.
At that time, God Almighty will console her with angels. They will call out to her with the same call with which they called Maryam, daughter of Imran: ‘O Fatimah, God has chosen you, purified you, and preferred you over the women of the worlds. O Fatimah, be devoutly obedient to your Lord, prostrate, and bow with those who bow.’ Then her wound begins, and she is wounded.
God, the Mighty and Exalted, will send Maryam, daughter of Imran, to her to look after her and be her companion in that wound. At that moment Fatimah will say: ‘My Lord, I am weary of life and disheartened by the people of this world; join me to my father.’ So God will join her to me, and she will be the first of my Ahl al-Bayt to join me. She will come to me sorrowful, grief-stricken, afflicted, her right usurped, and martyred.
At that moment I will say: O God, curse the one who wronged her, punish the one who usurped her right, humiliate the one who humiliated her, and keep forever in the fire of Hell the one who struck her side until she miscarried her child. Then the angels will say: Amen.”
Al-Hasan: The Model of Patience
The Messenger of God remembered Imam al-Hasan (peace be upon him) with beautiful expressions such as “light of my eyes” and “fruit of my heart,” and spoke of the calamities awaiting him, which would end in martyrdom.
The Seal of the Prophets looked at Imam al-Hasan (peace be upon him) and said to his companions: “As for Hasan, he is my son, of my progeny, a part of me, the light of my eyes, the radiance of my heart, and the fruit of my heart. He is the leader of the youth of Paradise and God’s proof over the Imams. His command is my command, and his word is my word. Whoever follows him is from me, and whoever disobeys him is not from me. When I looked at him, I remembered the humiliation that will befall him after me. This continues until he is martyred by poison, out of oppression and enmity. At that time, the angels and the seven heavens will weep over his death, and all creatures, even the birds in the sky and the fish in the water, will weep for him. Whoever weeps for him will not be blinded on the day when eyes are blinded. Whoever grieves for him will not be grieved on the day when hearts are grieved. And whoever visits him in al-Baqi will have firm footing on the day when feet slip on the Sirat.”
Al-Hussain: The Lamp of Guidance for the Nation
The Prophet of Islam introduced Imam al-Hussain (peace be upon him) as a leader of the youth of Paradise and a means of salvation for the Islamic nation, and said that in the end he would be martyred while oppressed.
Pointing to Imam al-Hussain (peace be upon him), the Messenger of God said: “As for Hussain, he is from me, my son, of my progeny, and after his brother the best of creation. He is the leader of the Muslims, the guardian of the believers, the vicegerent of the Lord of the worlds, the refuge of the bewildered, and God’s proof over all creation. He is the leader of the youth of the people of Paradise and the gate of the nation’s salvation. His command is my command, and obedience to him is obedience to me. Whoever follows him is from me, and whoever disobeys him is not from me. When I saw him, I remembered what will befall him after me. It is as though I see him seeking refuge in my sanctuary, but they do not grant him refuge. So in a dream I will press him to my chest, command him to depart from my city of migration, and give him glad tidings of martyrdom. Then he will set out toward the land of his martyrdom and the place of his killing, the land of Karbala, of slaughter and destruction. A group of Muslims will support him; on the Day of Resurrection they will be the leaders of the martyrs of my nation. And it is as though I see him struck by an arrow and fallen from his horse to the ground, and then, like a sheep being slaughtered, he is beheaded in his oppression.”
Intercession on the Day of Resurrection
The honored Prophet foresaw a future full of ups and downs in this world for the Ahl al-Bayt, and a great reward on the Day of Resurrection, a day on which Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) will demand divine justice for the wrongs inflicted upon her family.
After describing the calamities of the Ahl al-Bayt, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) wept, and those present wept as well, and the sound of their lamentation rose. Then he said: “O God, I complain to You of what my Ahl al-Bayt will face after me.”
Then he said: “When the Day of Resurrection arrives, the Throne of God will be adorned with every kind of adornment. Then two pulpits of light will be brought, each one hundred miles high. One will be placed on the right side of the Throne and the other on its left. Then Hasan and Hussain (peace be upon them both) will be brought; Hasan will stand on one of the two pulpits and Hussain on the other. God, Blessed and Exalted, will adorn His Throne with the two of them, just as a woman adorns herself with her two earrings.”
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: “When the Day of Resurrection arrives, my daughter Fatimah (peace be upon her) will arrive on one of the camels of Paradise, whose flanks are adorned with ornaments. Its halter is of pearl, its legs of green emerald, its tail of pure and fragrant musk, and its eyes of red ruby. Upon it is a dome of light whose inside can be seen from the outside and whose outside from the inside. Its inside is of God’s pardon and its outside of God’s mercy. On Fatimah’s head is a crown of light with seventy corners, each adorned with pearls and rubies, shining for the people of Paradise like a radiant star on the horizon of the sky.”
On her right are seventy thousand angels, and Gabriel holds the halter of that camel and calls out in the loudest voice: “O people of the gathering, lower your eyes until Fatimah, the daughter of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), passes.” On that day, no prophet, noble figure, truthful one, or martyr will remain except that he lowers his eyes until Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad and the leader of the women of the worlds, passes. Then she advances until she stands before the Throne of her Lord, the Mighty and Exalted.
Then she dismounts from her camel and says: “My Lord, my Master, judge between me and the one who wronged me, and rule between me and the one who killed my child.”
Then a call comes from God Almighty: “O My beloved and daughter of My beloved, ask and you shall be given; intercede and your intercession will be accepted. By My might and majesty, I will never overlook the oppression of any oppressor.”
Then Fatimah (peace be upon her) says: “My Lord, save my children, the followers of my children, and the lovers of my children.” At this, a call comes from God, the Mighty and Exalted: “Where are the children of Fatimah, her followers, the followers of her children, and the lovers of her children?”
Then they come forward, surrounded by the angels of mercy, with Fatimah walking ahead of them until she brings them into Paradise. May God’s blessings be upon her and her father. (1)
Complaint on the Day of Resurrection
On the Day of Resurrection, Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) enters the plain of gathering with special splendor and majesty, and presents her complaint for the wrongs inflicted upon her and her family.
The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) said: “When the Day of Resurrection arrives, my daughter Fatimah will be resurrected carrying blood-stained garments. Then she will take hold of one of the pillars of the Throne and say: ‘O just God, judge between me and the killer of my children!’
By the Lord of the Kaaba, God will rule in favor of my daughter, for God becomes angry at Fatimah’s anger and is pleased with her pleasure.” (2)
References
Al-Fada’il by Ibn Shadhan, vol. 1, p. 8
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 43, p. 220
