STORY OF SAYYID AL RASHTI
In the book of al-Najm al-Thaqib (by al-Nuri), our mentor has mentioned a story from which we may conclude the necessity of perseverance on and taking much interest in repeating the aforesaid comprehensive form of ziyarah as much as possible. He said:
About seventeen years ago, the righteous and pious Sayyid Ahmad the son of Sayyid Hashim the son of Sayyid Hasan al-Musawi al-Rashti (i.e. of the city of Rasht, north-central Iran), may Allah support him, one of the merchants of the city of Rasht, came to the holy city of al-Najaf and visited me at home in the company of Shaykh ‘Ali al-Rashti, may Allah bless his soil, the religious and virtuous scholar, who will be mentioned in the following story.
When the two were about to leave, Shaykh al-Rashti notified me that Sayyid Ahmad was one of the divinely-directed righteous men who had a strange story. However, the time was not suitable to narrate his story in details. A few days later, I met Shaykh al-Rashti by accident and he told me that Sayyid Ahmad had left al-Najaf. Shaykh al-Rashti then talked to me about the life story of this man and the strange incident that had occurred to him. When I heard so, I became so sorry that I had missed listening to the story from Sayyid Ahmad himself, although I deemed Shaykh al-Rashti too respectable to distort any part of the story.
A few months ago, I met Sayyid Ahmad by accident in the city of al-Kazimiyyah. That was specifically in the month of Jumada II of this very year. I was on my way back to the holy city of al-Najaf while Sayyid Ahmad was on his way back from the city of Samarra’ and heading for his homeland, Iran. I asked him to talk to me about himself in general and about the strange incident that had happened to him, as I was told. The man answered me and related the whole incident that happened to him as exactly as it was related to me by Shaykh al-Rashti. He thus said:
In the year 1280, I left the city of Rasht (Dar al-Marz) towards the city of Tabriz, intending for going on the ritual pilgrimage (hajj) to the Sacred House of God. I resided in the house of Hajj Safar ‘Ali al-Tabrizi, the famous merchant, and had to stay there with bewilderment, because I could not find a caravan to join. Hajj Jabbar al-Sadahi al-Isbahani, the pioneer, prepared for a caravan to the city of Tarabuzn; I therefore hired a riding animal from him and joined the caravan alone, without having any friend with me. In the first station of our journey, three men joined me after Hajj Jabbar had arisen their desires to accompany me. These three men were Hajj Baqir al-Tabrizi, a well-known personality who would perform this ritual pilgrimage on behalf of someone else, Hajj Sayyid Husayn al-Tabrizi, a merchant, and a third man called Hajj ‘Ali who was a servant. During the journey, we accompanied each other up to the city of Arzanat al-Rum from which we set for Tarabuzn.
In one of the stations between these two cities, Hajj Jabbar the pioneer approached and informed us that we would soon pass through a frightening way; therefore, we must not lag behind the caravan. Complying with his warning, we hurried up. Two hours and a half or three hours before dawn, we resumed our journey altogether. No more than half a parasang walking or little more, it became dark and snow began falling down, making each one of us cover the head with every coverlet we had and try to proceed as quickly as possible. As to me, I was unable to catch them; therefore, I rode off and sat to a side of the way with exhaustive confusion. As I thought of the matter a lot, I deemed proper to stay in my place up to dawning, because the journey expenditure, which was six hundred Tumans, was entirely with me. Then, I would return to the house in which we had stayed last night and then come back again with some guards to join the caravan.
Suddenly, I noticed that there was an orchard in front of me and there was a peasant catching a shovel in the hand by which he stroke the leaves of the trees to make the amassing snow fall down. The man approached me and asked, “Who are you?”
“I have lagged behind the caravan and I am now lost,” I answered.
Speaking in Persian language, the man said, “You are advised to offer the supererogatory prayer so that you will be guided to the right way.”
Following his advise, I began offering the supererogatory prayer. When I accomplished the early dawn acts of worship, the man came to me again and asked, “Have you not left yet?”
“In fact,” I said, “I cannot find the way.”
The man advised again, “You may say the Major Comprehensive Form of Ziyarah (al-Ziyarah al-Jami’ah al-Kabirah).”
Although I did not memorize this form of Ziyarah and, even now, I cannot say it by heart although I have very frequently visited the holy shrines, at that moment I stood up and said the entire form of that ziyarah by heart.
When I finished, the man appeared to me again and asked, “Have you not left your place yet?”
Weeping forth, I said, “No, I have not left my place yet, because I cannot find the way.”
The man advised again, “You may say the Ziyarah of ‘Ashura’.”
Although I did not memorize this form of ziyarah either and even now I cannot say it by heart, at that very moment I stood up and said the entire form of Ziyarah of ‘Ashura’ by heart following it with the statements of invoking curse on the enemies and invoking peace on the Imam (‘a) and the supplicatory prayer known as Du’a’ ‘Alqamah.
The man then came to me again and said, “Have you not yet set forth?”
I answered that I would stay there up to the morning.
The man said, “Now, I will take you to the caravan.”
He rode on a donkey, put his shovel on his shoulder, and asked me to sit behind him on the back of the animal. As I did, I pulled the rein on my horse, but it refused to move. The man then asked me to give him that rein. As I did, the man took the rein in his right hand, the shovel in his left hand, and began proceeding forward. The horse was easily led by the man.
The man then put his hand on my knee and asked, “Why are you all not offering the supererogatory prayers, supererogatory prayers, supererogatory prayers?” The man repeated it three times.
He then said, “Why are you deserting the Ziyarah of ‘Ashura’, Ziyarah of ‘Ashura’, Ziyarah of ‘Ashura’?” He also repeated it three time.
He then said, “Why are you not saying the Major Comprehensive Ziyarah, Comprehensive, Comprehensive?” He also repeated it three time.
The man was wandering in that area. Suddenly, he turned his face backward and said, “These are your companions. They are approaching the river to perform the ritual ablution for the Dawn Prayer.”
Immediately, I rode off the donkey and tried to ride on my horse, but I could not. Noticing so, the man rode off his animal, put the shovel in the snow, helped me ride on the horse, and turned the house’s face towards the direction where my companions were.
Only at that moment, I began to think and ask myself who that man was, how he could speak Persian in this region of Christian Turks, and how he could make me join my companions in such a short period of time. I turned my face back but I could not find anyone or any trace. Then, I joined my companions.