On 10th Jamadi ath-Thani, I was in Karbala al-Moalla in the mausoleum of Sayyid Mujahid (a.m.) with some scholars when Late Hajj Sayyid Muhammad Ali related an incident that:

The late Aga Sayyid Muhammad Ali was a very modest gentleman, having a very firm faith and extremely particular about enjoining good and forbidding evil. He was always striving in religious matters and was also in imprisoned for two years during the British rule in Iraq.

Among his qualities was that during his attendance in the holy shrine, he only recited supplications, Ziyarats and Prayers and did not speak a word to anyone, not even in response to someone's query, because he considered it against manners. He used to respond with gestures that he should ask him when he is out of there.

One day, he was seated on his prayer mat when a person [probably named Muhammad Ali] approached and in spite of the fact that he had no previous familiarity or introduction with him, said: Sayyid Muhammad, get up and arrange a house for me.

In spite of the fact that the late Sayyid, as per his habit was heedless of even prominent scholars, he became helpless and said: I am at your service. Then he came out of the shrine and took him to a house in the lane of the mausoleum of Late Shaykhul Ulama; which was in perfect and clean condition. He settled him in the house and returned.

The following day, he went to visit him. The Shaykh after seating him brought some pieces of lime lying in a corner of the room and said: See what it is. When he glanced at them, they were precious gems. After that he said: You can take them, if you like.

The Sayyid said: I don't need them. So he took them back and threw them on the ground and they resumed their previous form.

That same day or on some other day, he told the Sayyid: "Let us go for the Ziyarat of the grave of His Eminence, Hurr," and set out on foot from the bank of Euphrates. He started walking on the surface of water and reached to the centre of the river. Then he sat down and performed ablution. He told the Sayyid also to perform ablution there. Sayyid said that he was unable to walk on water.

That Shaykh completed the ablution and returned to the Sayyid, and they had hardly walked some distance when they decried a huge snake heading to them. When the Sayyid was extremely anxious and terrified, the Shaykh asked him if he was afraid. Yes, said the Sayyid, 1 am very fearful. He said: Do not fear. When the snake came near. he said: "Snake, die by the permission of Allah," and the serpent became lifeless.

The Sayyid says: I was extremely astonished and said to myself the next morning: I should go and check whether it was really a snake or just an illusion. Was it really dead. or it had become temporarily senseless and that after we left, it went away.

So, I reached there and saw that its corpse had been devoured by animals and some of it was lying there. I became certain that the Shaykh 's act was real. When I went to meet him, he said: It was better that you checked the snake, because absolute certainty is best.

The same day or the following day, he said: We will go for the Ziyarat of the folks of the grave. When we reached Wadi Aiman (cemetery of Karbala Moalla) and became engrossed in reciting Fatiha, he said: Bury me at this place. However, 1 did not accord much importance to his statement.

Then he asked: Would you like to come to Najaf al-Ashraf for the Ziyarat of Amir ul-Mu’minin ('a). Yes, I replied. He said: Give me your hand and close your eyes. Then he told me to open my eyes after a short while. We were standing in the holy courtyard of Amir ul-Mu’minin ('a).

Both of us paid homage to the holy tomb and when we came out after Prayer and supplications. he asked: Do you prefer to spend the night in Najaf al-Ashraf or return to Karbala Moalla. I said: Returning is preferable. He again held my hand and I closed my eyes. Not much time passed, but that I saw myself standing in Karbala Moalla. He went to his lodging and I also came home and went to sleep.

When I arose the following morning, I went to meet the Shaykh. When I reached there, I saw the landlord weeping and saying: We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. The Shaykh was dead. When I entered the room, I found him lying in the direction of the Qibla in a permanent sleep.

Apparently, that Shaykh was one of the special agents (Abdal) of Imam Zaman ('a) appointed by the Almighty Allah to impart certitude to the Sayyid and display some divine signs.

Similar to this is a story, which a prominent scholar has narrated:

A caretaker of Najaf al-Ashraf was having doubt about extraordinary happenings (miracles) and had prayed to Imam Husayn ('a) for the cure of this disease.

Once, I boarded a bus to travel from Karbala to Najaf al-Ashraf. Suddenly a stranger came and sat next to him and on the way spoke of unseen matters. Till the bus halted at a place and passengers alighted from it. That stranger led him to a pit, in which a dead bird was lying. He asked: Can you see that it is dead? Yes, he said. So that person addressed the dead bird: Get up by the permission of Allah. Instantly the bird revived and flew away.

The man said: To enliven the dead is child's play in this school. After that all boarded and the bus left. On reaching Najaf al-Ashraf that person asked the gentleman: Where can I meet you now? He replied: Tomorrow morning at the tomb of Kumail.

The following day, when that person reached the appointed place, he saw a corpse and was informed that it was that same gentleman.