Abd ul-Fadhl Walmali Aga Sayyid Muhammad Hadi Modarris Musawi, who lived for a long time in Samarrah and was the prayer leader in the holy sanctuary of the two Imams [Imam Ali Naqi ("a) and Ima m Hasan Askari ('a)], and who returned from there in the last stage of the expulsion of Iranians, has narrated some very strange stories about the miracle cures of the two Imams of Askar. We present two of these incidents to our readers:

There was a young man named Mahdi Ibn Abbas, who belonged to the Ahl ul-Sunna sect. He and his father were caretakers of the holy sanctuary of the two Imams. One day he went with his friends to the banks of River Tigris to enjoy and make merry; they also consumed alcohol. When they returned late at night, Mahdi decided to take a short cut through the holy courtyard to reach home at the earliest.

He entered from one gate and wanted to come out from the other, but as soon as he entered, he fell down and could not move further. People gathered and saw that he had a paralysis attack and he smelled of alcohol. They carried him out of the courtyard. This news spread in the last part of the night itself and people gathered to see that man and as per their habit when they came to the shrine they also recited supplications and Ziyarats.

Mahdi was admitted in the hospital. He regained consciousness after three or four days, but one side of his body was paralyzed. From the hospital of Samarrah, he was shifted to a hospital in Baghdad, yet even after being treated for eight months and seeking mediation of Abu Hanifah and other dervishes there was no change in his condition.

At last someone suggested to his family to pray for the help of the two Imams of Askar. Since Mahdi's brother was also a caretaker at the holy sanctuary, they left Mahdi inside the shrine for some days. One night, which was the Night of Besat, that is 27th Rajab 1386 A.H. and also the day the sepulcher of His Eminence, Abbas entered Iraq, when his neck was tethered to the sepulcher with a strip of cloth, he beheld a gentleman in white turban standing at his head and saying: Get up, but he said: I cannot, I am paralyzed. He repeated the order once more and went away.

Mahdi says: When I awoke, I took the support of the sepulcher and stood up, but I had no confidence in myself. I jerked my hand a few times till I became certain that I was not asleep and that I had recovered. As soon as I became sure of it, I started screaming, till my brother, Khazir, who was sleeping in the courtyard, woke up. When he beheld his ailing brother on his feet, going around the sepulcher and shaking it with his hands, he was also amazed.

After a long time, a person appointed to open the gate of the courtyard, arrived there. Seeing the two brothers in that condition he went to the Muezzin of Jafari sect, Aga Shaykh Mahdi and reported all this and said: Come and announce this from the pedestal of Adhan (call for prayer) and he did that.

At the time of the morning call for prayer, all the residents of Samarrah gathered in the holy sanctuary of Askariain and for the second time the courtyard became full of them. A large number of sheep were slaughtered; sweets and juice was distributed; ladies were screaming with joy and giving thanks to God and praising Him.