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THE TWELVE EMAMS.
AUGUST, 1876.]
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mad Ben Eskandar, a courtier of the Khalif Mançûr, who reigned from A.D. 753 to 775, says:-"One day I waited upon Mançûr, and finding him melancholy I asked, 'O commander of the Faithful! what is the cause of your sadness?' He replied, 'O Muḥammad! I have slain many of the descendants of A'li, but have left their chief guide.' I continued, 'Who is he?' He replied,, Ja'fer, the son of Muhammad.' I said, He is a pious man constantly engaged in the worship of God, and abhors the world with all its ways.' He continued, O Muḥammad! I was aware that you believe in his Emâmship." Hereupon I swore an oath that I would set his mind at ease on this point before the night set in; then he called in a negro and said, 'When Ja'fer Ben Muhammad comes, and I place my hand on my head, thou art immediately to kill him.' Afterwards he issued orders that the Emâm Ja'fer should be brought, and when he made his appearance I perceived that his blessed lips were moving, but could not understand what he said. I felt the kiosk shaking like a vessel among the waves, whilst Mançûr hastened with bare head and feet to meet him, and all the members of Mançûr's body quaked. Taking hold of his arm he seated him on the throne and addressed him as follows:-O descendant of the prophet! what is the reason of your coming?' He replied, You have sent for me, and so I came.' Mançûr continued, Express your wish!' He answered, My wish is that you should not send for me any more, so that I may pay you a visit of my own accord whenever I feel inclined.'
"As soon as Ja'fer Çâdek had departed, Mançûr went to his bedroom and slept till midnight, so that his prayers were forgotten. When he awoke, he called for me and said, 'Remain till I finish my omitted orisons, and inform you of what has happened to me.' After he had terminated his prayers he said, 'When Ja'fer Ben Muhammad was present I saw a dragon the tail of which was coiled around my castle, and the upper jaw of which was on the top, whilst the lower one touched the base of it. This dragon uttered distinctly the following words:"Allah has sent and commanded me
In my Catalose Raisonné of the Mulla Firas Library, VIII. 55, p. 203, I describe a book in which through Jefr various things can be obtained, e.g. "How to obtain divine inspiration by means of the canon of the blessed Jefr." "How to obtain a favourable response to prayer, by recit
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to swallow thee, with thy house, if anything should befall his servant!"'" Muḥammad states, "I said to Mançûr that this was a sorcery, but he replied, Do not say so! It is the force of the ineffable name, which was revealed to the prophet, and by the blessing of it he could, if he was so minded, transform a bright day into a dark night, or make the night as shining as the day, and could do whatever else he liked.'"
Ja'fer had said that A'li the Commander of the Faithful left two books, called Jami', from which the events of the world till the day of resurrection could be ascertained, and that he had seen one leaf of it in Egypt from which the history of the kings of that country had been extracted, and had in course of time been verified. The Emâm Ja'fer Çâdek also said, "Our science is the Ghaber, the Mazbúr, the Nuktah fi al kulub, and the Naksh fi allistimaa'; we possess, moreover, the red and the white Jefr, the book of Fâtemah, and also the Jama'h, which contains everything men stand in need of. On being asked for an explanation concerning these books, he replied, "The Ghaber is the science of what has happened; the Mazbúr is a knowledge of past events; the Nuktah fi al kulub is divine inspiration; the Naksh fi allistimaa' are the words of angels whom we can hear, but whose essences we cannot see; as to the red Jefr, it is a vessel which contains the weapons of the apostle of God, but they are not taken out until one of us who are of his family arises; the white Jefr is a vessel containing the Pentateuch of Moses, the Evangel of Jesus, the Psalms of David, and all the inspired books; the book of Fatemah contains everything which happens, and the name of every king or governor until the resurrection; the Jama'h is a book, seventy cubits long, dictated by the prophet of God, and written by the hand of A'li; it contains everything mankind are in need of till the day of resurrection.
This Emâm died A.H. 148 (A.D. 765), at the age of 65 years, and was interred at Madinah in the Baki' cemetery, where also his father, the Emâm Muhammad Baker, his grandfather the Emâm Zain-ul-a'âbedin, and his uncle the Emâm Hasan are buried.
VII. Mûsa, the son of Ja'fer-al-Çâdek, was
ing the ninety-nine names of God, through the science of the blessed Jefr," &c. There is nothing mentioned, however, about this Emam and supposed possessor of the white and the red Jefr.
