الطَّالَقَانِيُّ عَنِ ابْنِ عُقْدَةَ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ فَضَّالٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ الرِّضَا ع أَنَّهُ قَالَ كَأَنِّي بِالشِّيعَةِ عِنْدَ فَقْدِهِمُ الثَّالِثَ مِنْ وُلْدِي يَطْلُبُونَ الْمَرْعَى فَلَا يَجِدُونَهُ قُلْتُ لَهُ وَ لِمَ ذَلِكَ يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ قَالَ لِأَنَّ إِمَامَهُمْ يَغِيبُ عَنْهُمْ فَقُلْتُ وَ لِمَ قَالَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ فِي عُنُقِهِ لِأَحَدٍ بَيْعَةٌ إِذَا قَامَ بِالسَّيْفِ

1- Ilal ash-Shara’i and Uyun Akhbar Ar-Ridha’: Shaykh as-Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from Taliqani from Ibn Uqdah from ‘Ali Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Fadhdhal from his father from Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a) that he said:

“As if I can see the Shi’a when they lose the third from my sons, they will be searching for the green pasture, but will not be finding it.” I said to him, “Why so, O son of Allah’s Messenger?” He said: “Because their Imam will disappear from them.” I asked: “Why?” He said: “So there will not be any pledge of allegiance for anyone over his shoulders when he rises with the sword.”

2- Uyun Akhbar Ar-Ridha’: Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father from Himyari from Ahmad Ibn Hilal from Ibn Mahbub that Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a) said:

“Definitely, there will occur the dumb, catastrophic mischief, in which every secret and close relation will be dropped. That will happen when the Shi’a will miss the third from my sons. The dwellers of the heavens and the earth, and every worthy and merited man, and every contrite and sorrowful person will cry for him.” Then he said: “My parents be the ransom of the namesake of my grandfather and my look-alike and the look-alike of Musa the son of Imran (‘a). He is apparelled in the garments of light, shining with rays of illumination of sanctity. How abundant worthy men of faith and how abundant sorrowful men of belief will be perplexed and grievous at the loss of that crystal spring.

As if I see them when in their utmost despair, they are being called by a call that is heard from faraway as it is heard from the near, a call that is a blessing for the faithful and a curse for the unbelievers.”

3- Ikmal ad-Din: A similar narration is mentioned in Ikmal ad-Din from Saad from Ja’far Fazari from ‘Ali Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Fadhdhal from Rayyan Ibn Sult except that in it he says:

“Inhabitants of the earth and the heavens mourn his death.”

The author says: The statement: ‘He is apparelled in the garments of light’ implies that he will shine with divine effulgence.

4- Ikmal ad-Din and Uyun Akhbar Ar-Ridha’: It is narrated from Hamadani from ‘Ali from his father from Harawi from Dibil Ibn ‘Ali Khuzai that:

I recited my long poem to my master Imam ‘Ali Ibn Musa ar-Ridha’ (‘a), the beginning of which is,

Schools of verses empty of recitations

And the House of Revelation horrendously empty

When I reached to my verse:

The rise of an Imam who will definitely rise

And stand by the name of Allah and His blessings

He will make distinction between all rights and wrongs

And will proffer requital for charities and malevolence

Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a) cried very profusely and then raised his head and said to me, “O Khuzai, the Blessed Spirit has spoken on your tongues in these two verses. Do you know who this Imam is and when he will rise?” I said: “No, my master, except I have heard that an Imam of yours will rise and clean the earth from mischief and will fill the earth with equity as it will be full of oppression.” He said: “O Dibil, the Imam after me is my son Muhammad; after Muhammad his son ‘Ali; after ‘Ali his son Hasan; and after Hasan his son, Hujjah Qa’im, the Awaited one during his occultation, and the one obeyed in his time of appearance.

Even if not more than one day should remain from the world, Allah will prolong that day so much that he will rise and fill the world with equity just as it will be full of injustice.

As for when it will happen, that is to describe its time, and my father has narrated to me through his forefathers through Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) that the Messenger of Allah (S) was asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, when is the Qa’im from your progeny going to rise?’ He said: ‘His example is like the example of the Hour:

لاَ يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَا إِلاَّ هُوَ ثَقُلَتْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ لاَ تَأْتِيكُمْ إِلاَّ بَغْتَةً

“…none but He shall manifest it at its time; it will be momentous in the heavens and the earth; it will not come on you but of a sudden” (Surah al-’Araf, 7:187).

In Kifayat al-Athar, a similar traditional report is mentioned on the authority of Abu Salat Harwi.

5- Ikmal ad-Din: It is narrated from Ibn Walid from Saffar from Ibn Yazid from Ayyub Ibn Nuh that:

I said to Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a), “We hope that you will be the Patron of this Affair and that may Allah, the Exalted, confer this to you without use of violence. You have been pledged allegiance to and coins have been minted on your name.”

He said: “There is no one of us that letters come and go to him, is asked questions, pointed with fingers, and religious dues taken to, but he will be assassinated or he will die on his bed, until Allah, the Exalted, sends for this Order a man whose birth and place of growth will be hidden and he will not be hidden in his lineage.”

6- Ikmal ad-Din: It is narrated from Attar from his father from Ashari from Muhammad Ibn Hamadan from his uncle, Ahmad Ibn Zakariya that:

Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a) asked me, “Where is your house in Baghdad?” I said: “At Karkh.” He said: “That is the safest of places. There has to happen the deaf catastrophic mischief in which every secret and close relation will be dropped. That will happen after the Shi’a will miss the third from my sons.”

7- Ghaybah an-Nu’mani: It is narrated from Muhammad Ibn Hamam from Abdullah Ibn Ja’far from Yaqtini from Muhammad Ibn Abi Yaqub Balkhi that:

I heard Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a) say, “They will be tested through something that is severer and greater. They will be tested with a foetus in the abdomen of his mother and the suckling baby, until it is said that he has disappeared and that he is dead. They will say, ‘There is no Imam.’ However, even the Messenger of Allah (S) disappeared, and many others and many others disappeared. And here I am, awaiting a death in the bed.”

The author says: The Holy Prophet (S) disappeared a number of times like when he stayed in the cave of Hira and three years in Sheb Abu Talib and three days in the Thawr Cave. And he was also concealed from the Meccans on his way from the cave to Medina. And it is possible that His Eminence has used the plural because prophets of Allah had gone into hiding many times but the narrator has quoted the singular as ‘disappearance of the Holy Prophet (S)’.

8- Ghaybah an-Nu’mani: It is narrated from Kulayni from ‘Ali Ibn Muhammad from some of his associates from Ayyub Ibn Nuh from Imam ar-Ridha’ (‘a) that he said:

“When your standard is raised from your behind, then expect the salvation from beneath your feet.”