Question 40 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 1

Source footnotes

Footnotes are kept separate from the main question and answer and preserve their source-record association.

↑ [104] Al-Baqara 2:249.

↑ [105] Al-Ghayba by al-Numani, p. 316.

↑ [106] Jami al-Saadat, vol. 3, p. 314.

↑ [107] Bukayr ibn Ayun said: ‘I asked Abu Abdullah (a): “For what reason did Allah place the Stone in the corner where it is and not elsewhere? For what reason is it kissed? For what reason was it brought out of Paradise? For what reason was the servants’ covenant and pledge placed within it and not elsewhere? How did this occur? Tell me-may Allah make me your ransom-for my reflection upon it amazes me.” He said: “You have asked, made the question difficult, and investigated thoroughly. Understand the answer, empty your heart, and listen attentively; I will tell you, Allah willing. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, placed the Black Stone-which is a jewel brought out of Paradise to Adam-in that corner because of the covenant. When He took the progeny of the children of Adam from their backs, He took the covenant from them in that place. In that place He appeared to them, and from that place the bird descends upon the Qa’im (a). The first to pledge allegiance to him is that bird, and by Allah it is Gabriel (a). The Qa’im rests his back against that station. It is the proof and indication of the Qa’im, the witness for whoever comes to it in that place, and the witness concerning whoever fulfills to it the covenant and pledge that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, took from the servants. ‘As for kissing and touching it, their cause is the pledge: a renewal of that pledge and covenant and a renewal of allegiance, so that they deliver to it the pledge taken from them in the covenant. They come to it every year and deliver to it that pledge and trust taken from them. Do you not see that you say, “I have delivered my trust and renewed my covenant, so bear witness for me that I came”? By Allah, no one delivers that except our Shia, and no one has preserved that pledge and covenant except our Shia. They come to it, and it recognizes and affirms them. Others come to it, and it rejects and denies them, because none but you preserved it. By Allah, it bears witness for you and, by Allah, against them it bears witness to betrayal, rejection, and disbelief. It is Allah’s conclusive proof against them on the Day of Resurrection. It will come with a speaking tongue and two eyes in its original form. Creation will recognize and not deny it. It will bear witness for whoever came to it and renewed the pledge and covenant there that he preserved the pledge and covenant and discharged the trust. It will bear witness against everyone who denied, rejected, and forgot the covenant, to disbelief and denial. ‘As for the reason Allah brought it out of Paradise, do you know what the Stone was?” I said, “No.” He said: “It was one of the great angels with Allah. When Allah took the covenant from the angels, it was the first to believe in and acknowledge it. Allah took that angel as trustee over all His creation, made it swallow the covenant, deposited it with him, and required creation to renew before it every year their acknowledgment of the covenant and pledge He, Mighty and Majestic, had taken from them. Then Allah placed it with Adam in Paradise to remind him of the covenant and renew before it the acknowledgment every year. When Adam disobeyed and was expelled from Paradise, Allah caused him to forget the pledge and covenant He had taken from him and his children concerning Muhammad (s) and his vicegerent (a), and made him lost and bewildered. When Allah turned to Adam in mercy, He transformed that angel into the form of a white pearl and cast it from Paradise to Adam (a) while he was in India. When Adam saw it, he felt familiarity with it, although he knew it only as a jewel. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, gave it speech, and it said, ‘O Adam, do you recognize me?’ He said, ‘No.’ It said, ‘Indeed, Satan has gained mastery over you and made you forget the remembrance of your Lord.’ Then it changed into the form it had possessed with Adam in Paradise and said to Adam, ‘Where are the pledge and covenant?’ Adam leapt toward it, remembered the covenant, wept, humbled himself before it, kissed it, and renewed his acknowledgment of the pledge and covenant. Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, transformed it into the jewel of the Stone, a pure white pearl that shone. Adam (a) carried it upon his shoulder in reverence and honor. When he became weary, Gabriel (a) carried it for him until he reached Mecca. He continued to find familiarity with it in Mecca and renew the acknowledgment before it every day and night. ‘Then, when Allah, Mighty and Majestic, built the Kaaba, He placed the Stone in that location, because when He, Blessed and Exalted, took the covenant from the children of Adam, He took it in that place, and in that place He made the angel swallow the covenant. For that reason it was placed in that corner. Adam was moved from the place of the House to al-Safa, Eve to al-Marwa, and the Stone was placed in that corner. When Adam looked from al-Safa and saw the Stone placed in the corner, he magnified, proclaimed the oneness of, and glorified Allah. Thus the practice of proclaiming Allah’s greatness and facing the corner containing the Stone from al-Safa came about. Allah deposited the pledge and covenant with it rather than any other angel, because when Allah, Mighty and Majestic, took the covenant acknowledging His lordship, Muhammad’s prophethood (s), and Ali’s vicegerency (a), the limbs of the angels trembled. The first to hasten to acknowledge it was that angel. None among them loved Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (s) more intensely than it. Therefore, Allah chose it from among them and made it swallow the covenant. It will come on the Day of Resurrection with a speaking tongue and a seeing eye, bearing witness for everyone who came to that place and preserved the covenant that he preserved it.”’ Al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 184; Ilal al-Sharai, vol. 2, pp. 429–431. For more, see what Sayyid Ahmed Alhasan (a) explained at the end of The Monotheism, p. 142.

↑ [108] Al-Qanduzi narrated from Ali ibn al-Husayn, from his father, from his forefather the Commander of the Faithful Ali (a), that the Messenger of Allah (s) said: ‘Allah has made obedience to me obligatory upon you and forbidden you to disobey me. He has made obedience to Ali after me obligatory upon you and forbidden you to disobey him. He is my vicegerent and inheritor; he is from me and I am from him. Loving him is faith, and hating him is disbelief. One who loves him loves me, and one who hates him hates me. He is the master of whomever I am master, and I am the master of every Muslim man and woman. I and he are the two fathers of this nation.’ Yanabi al-Mawadda li-Dhawi al-Qurba, vol. 1, p. 369.