The Maulavi has also narrated:

During those days, Nasir ul-Islam, Abu ‘l-Waizeen had arrived in the Holy Mash-had. During Holy Ramadhan, he spoke on ethical issues from the pulpit. In the evenings, he discussed miraculous incidents witnessed at the holy shrine of Imam Ali Al-Ridha (‘a).

He has narrated that among the nobles of Tehran, there was a man who had two wives from Husayni Sadaat (Sayyids) and they lived in the same house. They had entered into a pact to be sincere to each other and to avoid jealousy and malice at any cost; and also that they will not talk ill of each other to the husband and or create mischief for each other. They invoked Imam Ali Al-Ridha ('a) to witness this pact and stipulated that if one of them acted in contravention, the Imam may blind her.

After some time, one of them violated the agreement and committed dishonesty in their mutual pact. As a result of this she became blind that same week. No matter how regretful she became and repented for her sins, but it was to no avail.

She decided to perform the Ziyarat of Holy Mash-had and Nasir ul-Islam was her special reciter of mourning poems. He says:

We spent forty nights at the head side of the holy sanctuary, mostly in supplications, weeping and wailing. We remained awake till morning along with some Sayyids, scholars and a considerable number of people, but there was no sign of recovery.

On the forty-first night, I recited the farewell Ziyarat and helplessly decided that we will leave for Tehran the following morning. At dawn, a light appeared from the sepulcher and passed over the head of that woman. People present there raised slogans of Salawat and all became certain that she was cured. That effulgence passed out from the ventilator.

Suddenly there were sounds of clapping and Salawat arose from Darus Siyadat. We went there to check and learnt that an old lady from Kabul has been cured. Vision was restored to both her eyes, in spite of the fact that she had lived for years in blindness and had become used to it. Also, she had neither come to the shrine with the intention of being cured nor prayed for it. The Almighty Allah showed the miracle of nature, divine power and Imamate so that we should never consider oaths made to the caliph of God as insignificant and that we should fulfill them in the best way.

It becomes clear from this story how severe the punishment of breaking the vow made to God and His Messenger is. For example, if a person vows to abstain from a particular sin and then later on commits it; even though it is a small sin, but due to going against the word given to the Almighty Allah it becomes a greater sin. For more details and to learn about the severity of this sin, refer to the book of Greater Sins.

Regarding this story, if it is said that the helpless woman, after becoming blind, regretted her mistake and sought the refuge of the infallible Imam and wept and wailed for forty nights, and other people also prayed for her, and one who repents from a sin is as if he had not committed that sin, why her repentance was not accepted and how her eyes were not cured?

We would reply: First of all, it is not known whether she had repented with sincerity. A person should regret his or her act, should weep and wail for forgiveness with a firm intention of not repeating the same again. Thus, if he is regretful only due to its evil consequences and punishment, it is not true repentance.

In other words, his condition is such that if there had been no punishment, he would have had no qualms in disobeying the Almighty Allah again. That is why such repentance is not acceptable. Secondly, even if it is supposed that she performed true repentance, even then she should have asked for the forgiveness of her co-wife and made up with her and also corrected the mischief that she caused.

Thirdly, one who makes a vow to the Almighty Allah and then breaks it is liable to pay the legal penalty. As far as possible he should not delay the payment of the same, or he would not get salvation (penalty of breaking a vow is to emancipate a slave or to fast for sixty days or to feed sixty poor people).

Fourthly, we can say that the woman not being cured was a kind of grace and kindness on her and other people, so that all may know that God and the souls of the Holy Imams ('a) are present everywhere and they witness all the deeds of the people, and nothing is concealed from them. Also just as Allah is the most merciful of the merciful ones, in the same way, He is also the most severe punisher. After understanding this, one should not dare to commit the sin again and beware of His fury.