The Holy Prophet, in reply to Abdullah b. Masud regarding the Imams from Imam Hussein’s progeny, said, … And from the loins of Ali [al-Rida], his son Muhammad, the praised and the purest of people in form, and the best of them in character…’

عن رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله لَمّا سَألَهُ عَبدُاللَّهُ بنُ مَسعودٍ عَنِ الأئِمَّةِ في صُلبِ الحُسَينِ عليه السلام قال:… وَيَخرُجُ مِن صُلبِ عَليٍّ (الرِّضا) ابنُهُ مُحَمَّدٌ المَحمودُ أطهَرُ النّاسِ خَلقاً وَأحسَنُهُم خُلقاً

Abdullah b. Jafar narrated, ‘Safwan b. Yahya and I visited al-Rida, and Abu Jafar [Imam al-Jawad], who was three years old, was standing there. We asked him [i.e. al-Rida], ‘May Allah sacrifice us for you. If – God forbid- something happened to you, who will be [the Imam] after you?’ He said, ‘This son of mine’, pointing towards him. We asked, ‘While he is still this young?’ He replied, ‘of course while he is still this young. Verily Allah, Blessed and most High, made Jesus His divine proof [on earth] when he was just two years old.’

عبدُاللَّهِ بنِ جعفرٍ قال: دَخَلتُ على‏ الرِّضا عليه السلام أنا وصَفوانُ بنُ يحيى‏، وأبو جعفرٍ عليه السلام قائمٌ قد أتى‏ لهُ ثلاثُ سِنينَ، فقُلْنا لَه: جَعَلَنا اللَّهُ فِداكَ، إنْ – وأعَوذُ باللَّهِ – حَدَثَ حدَثٌ فَمن يَكونُ بَعدَكَ؟ قالَ: ابْنِي هذا، وأومَأَ إليهِ. قالَ: فقُلْنا لَه: وهُو في هذاالسِّنِّ ؟! قالَ: نَعَمْ، وهُو في هذا السِّنِّ، إنَّ اللَّهَ تبارَكَ وتعالى‏ احْتَجَّ بعيسى‏ عليه السلام وهُو ابنُ سنَتَينِ

Yahya al-Sanani narrated, ‘I visited Abu al-Hasan al-Rida when he was in Makkah. I saw him peel a banana and feed it to Abu Jafar. I asked him, ‘May I be your ransom, is this the blessed newborn?’ He said, ‘Yes, O Yahya! This is the newborn the like of whom there is none other born into Islam and upon our Shia, more blessed than him.’

يَحيى الصَّنعاني: دَخَلتُ عَلى أبي الحسن الرِّضا عليه السلام وَهُوَ بِمَكَّةَ وَهُوَ يَقشِرُ مَوزاً وَيُطعِمُهُ أبا جَعفَرٍ عليه السلام فَقُلتُ لَهُ: جُعِلتُ فِداكَ هذا المَولودُ المُبارَكُ ؟ قالَ: نَعَم يا يَحيى هذا المَولودُ الَّذي لَم يولَد في الإسلامِ مِثلُهُ مَولودٌ أعظَمُ بَرَكَةً عَلى شيعَتِنا مِنهُ

Abdullah b. Said narrated that Muhammad b. Ali b. Umar al-Tannukhi said to him, ‘I saw Muhammad b. Ali [al-Jawad] talking to a bull and the bull shook his head.’ Then I said to him, ‘No, but [can you not] command the bull to talk to you.’ He then recited [the verse]: “We have been taught the speech of the birds and we have been given out of everything” He then said [to it], ‘Say: there is no god but Allah, the Only One and He has no partner’ and stroked its head with his palm. The bull then said, ‘There is no god but Allah, the Only One and He has no partner.’

عَبدُاللَّهُ بنُ سَعيدٍ: قالَ لي مُحَمَّدُ بنُ عَليِّ بنِ عُمَرِ التَّنّوخي: رَأيتُ مُحَمَّدَ بنَ عَليٍّ وَهُوَ يُكَلِّمُ ثَوراً فَحَرَّكَ الثَّورُ رَأسَهُ، فَقُلتُ لا وَلكن تَأمُرُ الثَّورَ أن يُكَلِّمَكَ، فَقالَ وَعُلِّمنا مَنطِقَ الطَّيرِ وَاوتينا مِن كُلِّ شَي‏ءٍ ثُمَّ قالَ قُل لا إلهَ إلّا اللَّهُ وَحدَهُ لا شَريكَ لَهُ وَمَسَحَ بِكَفِّهِ عَلى رَأسِهِ فَقالَ الثَّورُ لا إله إلّا اللَّهُ وَحدَهُ لا شَريكَ لَهُ

Ali b. Hassan al-Wasiti, known as al-Amsh, narrated, ‘I brought an item to him from Isfahan made of silver, in order to present it to my master Abu Jafar [al-Jawad]. When the people left his company after he had answered all their questions, he stood up and left. I followed him and met a helper of his from whom I requested to seek permission to see Abu Jafar. I entered and saluted him, and he returned my salutation with signs of dislike on his face. He did not come to sit down, so I approached him and emptied all that was in my sleeve before him. He looked at me in anger, then he looked to the right and left and said, ‘Allah has not created me for this, what has play got to do with me?’ I asked him to forgive me. He forgave me and then I took the things and left.’

عليُّ بنِ حَسّانِ الواسِطيِّ المَعروفِ بِالعَمشِ: حَمَلتُ مَعي إليهِ عليه السلام مِن الآلَةِ الَّتي لِلإصبِهانِ بَعضُها مِن فِضَّةٍ وَقُلتُ أتحُفُ مَولايَ أبا جَعفَرٍ بِها فَلَمّا تَفرَّقَ النّاسُ عنه بَعدَ جَوابِ الجَميعِ قامَ فَمَضى فَاتَّبَعتُهُ فَلقيتُ مُوَفِّقاً فَقُلتُ استَأذِن لي عَلى أبي جَعفَرٍ، فَدَخَلتُ وَسَلَّمتُ فَردَّ عَلىَّ السَّلامَ وَفي وَجهِهِ الكَراهَةُ وَلَم يَأتي بِالجُلوسِ فَدَنوتُ مِنهُ وَأفرَغتُ ما كانَ في كُمّي بَينَ يَدَيهِ فَنَظَرَ إلَىَّ مُغضِباً ثمّ رَنا يَميناً وَشِمالاً وَقالَ ما لِهذا خَلَقَني اللَّهُ ما أنا وَاللَّعبِ ؟ فاستَعفَيتُهُ فَعَفا عَنّي فَأخَذتُها فَخَرَجتُ

al-Qasim b. Abd al-Rahman, who was then a Zaydi, narrated, ‘I went to Baghdad. While I was there, I saw the people congratulating each other all of a sudden, exchanging honourable greetings and standing up. I asked, ‘What is this?’ They replied, ‘The son of al-Rida [has come].’ Then I said, ‘Indeed I must see him’. Then he appeared on a male or female donkey. I said, ‘May the curse of Allah be upon the supporters of Imama who believe that Allah has made obedience to this [type of person] mandatory.’ At that very moment, he turned to me and said, ‘O Qasim b. Abd al-Rahman, “Are we to follow a lone human from ourselves?! Indeed then we would be in error and madness”. [He continued]: ‘So I said to myself, ‘A sorcerer, by Allah!’, and he turned to me again, and said, “Has the Reminder been cast upon him from among us? Rather he is a self-conceited liar”. [He continued]: ‘So I left, believing in Imama and bore witness that verily he is the proof of Allah on His creation and had faith in him.’

عن القاسِمِ بنِ عَبدِالرَّحمنِ – وَكانَ زِيديّاً -: خَرَجتُ إلى بَغدادَ فَبَينا أنا بِها إذ رَأيتُ النّاسَ يَتَعادونَ وَيَتَشَرَّفونَ وَيَقِفونَ؛ فَقُلتُ: ما هذا؟ فَقالوا: ابنُ الرِّضا، فَقُلتُ: وَاللَّهِ لأنظُرَنَّ إلَيهِ فَطَلَعَ عَلى بَغلٍ أو بَغلَةٍ فَقُلتُ: لَعَنَ اللَّهُ أصحابُ الإمامَةِ حَيثُ يَقولونَ إنَّ اللَّهَ افتَرَضَ طاعةَ هذا، فَعَدَلَ إليَّ وَقالَ: يا قاسمَ بنَ عبدِالرَّحمنِ: «أبَشَراً مِنّا واحِداً نَتَّبِعُهُ إنّا إذاً لَفي ضَلالٍ وَسُعُرٍ» فَقُلتُ في نَفسي ساحِرٌ واللَّهِ! فَعَدَلَ إلَىَّ فَقالَ: «ءاُلقِيَ الذِّكرُ عَلَيهِ مِن بَينِنا بَل هُوَ كَذّابٌ أشِرٌ» قالَ: فانصَرَفتُ وَقُلتُ بِالإمامَةِ؛ وَشَهِدتُ أنَّهُ حُجَّةُ اللَّهِ عَلى خَلقِهِ وَاعتَقَدتُهُ

SELECTED APHORISMS OF IMAM AL-JAWAD

مختارات من أقوال الإمام الجواد عليه السلام

1. Postponing repentance is an illusion, and long procrastination is perplexity.

(1) تأخِيرُ التَّوبةِ اغْتِرارٌ، وطُولُ التّسْويفِ حَيْرَةٌ

2. It is sufficient for someone to be classified as a betrayer if he is the trustee of a disloyal person.

(2) كَفى‏ بالمَرءِ خِيانَةً أنْ يكونَ أميناً للخَوَنَةِ

3. Meeting fellow brothers, even very briefly, causes the mind to broaden and develop.

(3) مُلاقاةُ الإخوانِ نُشْرَةٌ وتَلقيحُ العَقلِ، وإن كانَ نَزْراً قَليلاً

4. Exposing something before it has become consolidated will ruin it.

(4) إظهارُ الشَّي‏ءِ قبلَ أن يَستَحكِمَ مَفسَدَةٌ لَهُ

5. Patience in the face of a misfortune is itself a misfortune for the one who gloats over your bad luck.

(5) الصَّبرُ عَلَى المُصيبَةِ، مُصيبَةٌ عَلَى الشامِتِ بها

6. Whoever gives a speaker his full attention has indeed expressed a form of worship or adulation to him. If the speaker leads one to Allah through his words, then it is as if one worships Allah [by giving him attention], but if he leads one to Satan through his words, it is as if one worships Satan.

(6) مَن أصغى‏ إلى‏ ناطِقٍ فقَد عَبَدَهُ، فإن كانَ النّاطِقُ يُؤَدّي عَنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّوجلَّ فقَد عَبَدَ اللَّهَ، وإن كانَ النّاطِقُ يُؤَدّي عنِ الشَّيطانِ فقَد عَبَدَ الشَّيطانَ

7. The best form of worship is sincerity.

(7) أفضَلُ العِبادَةِ الإخلاصُ

8. He who conceals [the path] of proper conduct from you in making you follow that which you desire is indeed your enemy.

(8) قَد عاداكَ مَن سَتَرَ عَنكَ الرُّشدَ اتِّباعاً لِما تَهواهُ

9. People who perform acts of courtesy towards others benefit more from them than the receptors of their kindness, for verily they have the reward for them, the [rewarding feeling of] pride for having helped someone as well as a mention. So however much good a man may do for others, it ultimately always starts by benefiting himself, and hence he never seeks thanks for the benefit incurred by himself through helping others.

(9) أهلُ المَعروفِ إلَى اصطِناعِه أحوَجُ مِن أهلِ الحاجَةِ إلَيهِ؛ لأِنَّ لَهُم أجرَهُ وفَخرَهُ وذِكرَهُ، فمَهما اصطَنَعَ الرَّجُلُ مِن مَعروفٍ فإنَّما يَبدأ فيهِ بِنَفسِهِ، فلا يَطلُبَنَّ شُكرَ ما صَنَعَ إلى‏ نَفسِهِ مِن غَيرِهِ

10. He who approves of a wicked deed partakes in it.

(10) مَنِ استَحسَنَ قَبيحاً كانَ شَريكاً فيهِ.