The Signs of the Mahdī’s Reappearance
Al-Imāma wa’l-Tabṣira min al-Ḥayra|Volume 1|Book 3|Chapter 12
سعد، عن ابن عيسى، عن الحسين بن سعيد، عن فضالة، عن أبان عن محمد بن مسلم، قال: سمعت أبا عبداللّه عليه السلام، يقول: إنّ لله عزّ وجل خلقاً خلقهم من نوره ورحمته، فَهُمْ عين الله الناظرة، واُذنه السامعة، ولسانه الناطق في خلقه باذنه واُمناؤه على ما أنزل من عذر أو نذر أو حجّة. فَبِهِمْ يمحو الله السيئات، وبهم يدفع الضيم، وبهم ينزل الرحمة، وبهم يحيي ميتاً، ويميت حيّاً، وبهم يبتلي خلقه، وبهم يقضي في خلقه قضيّة. قلت: جعلت فداك، من هؤلاء؟ قال: الأوصياء.
Saʿd, from Ibn ʿĪsā, from al-Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd, from Faḍḍāla, from Abān from Muḥammad b. Muslim, who narrated: “I heard Abā ʿAbd Allāh عليه السلام saying: “There are for Allāh عز وجل creatures whom He created from His light and His mercy, for they are the observing eye of Allāh and His listening ear, His speaking tongue among His creations, by His permission, and His trustees over whatever He has revealed of an excuse, a warning or an authoritative argument. So, through them Allāh erases misdeeds, and through them He overturns subjugation, through them He causes mercy to descend and through them He brings the living to death and the dead back to life. Through them He tests His creations, and through them He issues a decree among His creation.” I said: “May I be made your sacrifice, who are these?” He replied: “The Legatees.”