Hadith record

13. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad al-Jawhari from Ali ibn abu Hamza who has said that abu Basir asked abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) when I was also present. “He said, ‘May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, how many times was the Messenger of Allah taken for ascension?’ The Imam (AS) said, ‘It happened twice. Jibrail asked him to stop at a place saying, ‘Wait right there, O Muhammad, you have stood at a place whereat no angel or prophet has ever stood before you. Your Lord Is praying.” He (The Holy Prophet) asked, “O Jibrail, how does He pray?” Jibrail said, ‘He says ‘The Glorious, the Holy, I am the Lord of the angels and the Spirit. My mercy exceeds my anger.’ The Holy Prophet (s.a) then said: ‘O Lord, I beg Your forgiveness, I beg Your forgiveness.’ The Imam (a.s.) said, “it was as Allah has said, “. . until he was as close to him as the distance of two bows, or even less.” (53:9) Abu Basir then asked, May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, what is “. . the distance of two bows, or even less.”? (53:9) The Imam (a.s.) said, “It is the distance between the ark and the head of the bow.” The Imam (a.s.) then said, “Between the two there was a barrier that shined and oscillate that I do not know except that he said it was Zabarjad (chrysolite). He looked into the light of Greatness of the size of needle’s eye or so that Allah willed. Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, said, “O Muhammad.” He replies, Yes, my Lord.” He asked, “Who will be after you to guide your followers?” He replied, “Allah knows best.” He said, “Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) will be Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.) ( the Leader with Divine Authority), the master of the Muslim, the leader of the ones marked with brightness on their foreheads.” The narrator has said the then Abu ‘Abdallah (AS) said to Abu Basir, ‘O Abu Muhammad, by Allah, Wilaya of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) did not come from earth, it (Wilaya) came from the heavens by words clearly spoken.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.