Allamah Majlisi has narrated in Behaarul Anwaar from
the book of Sultanul Mufarraj an Ahalal Imaan, compilation of the
perfect scholar, Sayyid Ali bin Abdul Hamid Neeli Najafi that he said:
The incident of Abu Rajeh Himami in Hilla was famous in all
the cities and it was known to all the people that:
“Of all those who have seen Imam Zamana (a.s.), there is the
most famous and well known, and it is narrated by a group of scholars and
eminent people of that town. Among those eminent personalities is also the
pious, senior and virtuous Shaykh Shamsuddin Muhammad bin Qaroon.
He says that there was a ruler in Hilla called ‘Marjaan, the
younger’. Some people reported to him that Abu Rajeh abuses the companions of
the Prophet. So he got Abu Rajeh arrested and ordered him to be beaten. They
beat him so severely that each part of his body was injured and they hit at his
mouth so much that his teeth were broken.
Then they pierced his tongue with a thick iron needle. Then
they pierced his nose and put a rope through it. After that he was given over
to the ruler’s men to take him around the lanes of Hilla in this manner and
ordered that he should be thrashed from every side. It happened in this way and
the poor man fell down exhausted; people thought that he was dead.
They informed the king and he ordered his execution. Those
present in the court wanted to know what purpose would be served by his
execution. Since he was an old man this much punishment was enough for him. He
was already dead, so he should be left now, and he would die a natural death.
Why should the king take the responsibility of his death? When people
petitioned much, he ordered his release.
Since he was seriously injured, his relatives carried him
home like a corpse, everyone was sure that he would not survive that night as
no sign of life remained in his body. However, when people came to see him the
next day they found him in perfect health and physically fit, engrossed in
ritual prayers. His teeth, that had been broken, were back in his mouth in a
perfect condition. The wounds of his body and face had healed so completely as
if he never had any injuries in the first place.
They were shocked at this and asked him how that came to be.
He said: I was looking at death with my own eyes. Since my tongue could not
move, I was unable to utter any supplication, so I prayed to Allah in my mind
and beseeched my master. When the greater part of the night had passed, I saw
that the complete house was lit by a luminosity and my master, His Eminence,
the Master of the Time was stroking my face and saying: Now, get up and go to
your family. You are perfectly all right now. Thus, when I got up in the
morning, I was absolutely healthy as you can all see.
Shamsuddin Muhammad bin Qaroon says: By Allah, Abu Rajeh was
a frail and thin man, having sallow complexion; he was very ugly and had a
small beard. I used to visit the same public bath he frequented and I always
saw him in the above condition. But that morning when I went to see him with
other people, I saw him physically strong, his limbs powerful and his height
had also increased. The beard was also bigger than before and the complexion
had a pinkish hue. It seemed as if he were a young man of twenty years. And he
remained like that till his end.
When the news of his miraculous recovery spread, the
governor of Hilla summoned him; who one day before had seen him in a very
serious condition; but now he was perfectly cured and there no sign of any
injury and his teeth were also intact. The ruler was highly impressed by this
and filled with awe. Previously when he sat at the place of Imam Zamana (a.s.)
in Hilla, he used to turn his back to it, but after this incident, he used to
sit facing it and he also changed his behavior with the people of Hilla. He
used to forgive their mistakes and acted nicely with everyone in general. But
all this was of no use to him and he died after some days.[1]