THE FIRST ASSEMBLY

"Story of the Meeting and Description of the State of his Three Sons in This World and in Religion"

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Layth al-Trabulsi, the vizir in Damascus in the year 376, related: Abu Sa'id al-Dinawari told me: Al-Hasan al-Julli, the scribe in Talqan, told me: Muhammad ibn Salim al-Qurashi reported from Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi, who said:

I asked Harun al-Samarra'i, the scribe in Talqan in the year 292, to relate to me something he had heard from Abu al-Tahir Sabur ibn al-Qasim al-Zahid. He said to me, after I had frequented his house for a long time and asked him without him answering me regarding what he heard from our masters, the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt) — Exalted Glory —: "With love and honor! Tomorrow morning, come to my residence." He said: I did not cease monitoring the dawn all night, and when the daybreak appeared, I went to his house. I found the gatekeeper had opened the door; when he saw me, he said: "Enter," and he closed the door behind me. He brought me into the house, and there was a man standing in prayer. When he sensed me, he shortened his prayer, stood up, and received me with the finest reception. He raised my status, asked about my condition and my coming, and I informed him that I had stayed awake all night, my heart attached to the conversation with him.

Then he said to me: "I shall tell you about this man, what I heard from him, what I grasped from him, what I knew through him, and how I attained a great fortune and a momentous matter. I became enriched and avoided meeting many people." I said to him: "Grant me that favor, my master." He said to me: "Know that I was living in Kufa and possessed a great blessing therein. My affairs were upright, and I used to handle some of the Sultan's business. My word was accepted by my Sultan and by all who knew me. I had relied on my brothers regarding my blessing and what I managed of the Sultan's affairs. I found intimacy only with