Seyed Hashem Moosavi
Hujjat al-Islam Quds, one of the students of the late Grand Ayatollah Bahjat (may Allah have mercy on him), narrates that one day Ayatollah Bahjat said: “In Tehran, there was a teacher at one of the religious schools who used to teach the book ‘Sharh Lum’a.’ He noticed that one of his students, who seemingly wasn’t very exceptional in his studies, would occasionally perform relatively extraordinary acts.
One day, the teacher lost his knife, which he often used to sharpen his reed pen with and was particularly fond of. Despite searching for it, he couldn’t find it and, thinking that his children had taken it and misplaced it, he became angry with them and the rest of the household. Some time passed, and the knife still wasn’t found, and the teacher’s anger did not subside.
One day after class, without any prior introduction, the student said to the teacher: ‘Sir, you placed your knife in the pocket of your old vest and forgot about it. What fault do the children have?’ The teacher remembered and was astonished at how the students knew about it.
From that moment, the teacher became certain that this student was connected with the friends of Allah. One day, he said to the student: ‘After class, I need to speak with you.’ When they were alone, he said: ‘Dear sir, it is evident that you are connected to someone. Tell me, have you had the honour of meeting with Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance)?’
The teacher insisted, and the student had no choice but to reveal his encounter with the Imam (atfs). The teacher said: ‘Dear, the next time you have the honour of meeting him (atfs), convey my greetings and ask him (atfs) if he (atfs) would grant me a few minutes to meet him (atfs) if he (atfs) deems it appropriate.’
Time passed, and the student did not say anything to his teacher. The teacher, out of fear of receiving a negative answer, didn’t dare to ask. A long time passed in this manner until the teacher finally lost patience and asked the student, ‘Dear, is there any news about my request?’
The student hesitated and felt ashamed to deliver the message. The teacher told him: ‘Don’t be embarrassed; just convey to me whatever he (atfs) has said, for you are merely the messenger, and you have no-fault «ما علی الرسول إلا البلاغ المبین» The Messenger’s duty is only to convey the message clearly.
With great reluctance, the student replied: ‘The Imam (atfs) said: “There is no need for me to grant you a few minutes of meeting time. You should purify yourself, and I will come to you myself.”
