VISITATION TO NAEB KHAAS (SPECIAL DEPUTIES OF IMAM MAHDI (A)

WHO ARE THE FOUR EMISSARIES?

The Four Emissaries of Imam al-Mahdi (‘a) are Abu-’Amr ‘Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Asadi, Abu-Ja’far Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman, Shaykh Abu’l-Qasim Husayn ibn Rawh al-Nawbakhti, and the sublime Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samari, may Allah be pleased with them all.

One of the duties of the visitors of the holy shrines in Iraq is to come to Baghdad, during their stay at al-Kazimiyyah city, for visiting the Four Emissaries who represented the Awaited Argument of Allah and the Imam of the Age, peace of Allah be upon him. Visiting the tombs of these personalities does not require much effort, because they are all situated in near places in Baghdad; therefore, they are not far away for the visitors. However, even if these graves were scattering in remote places, they would be worthy of being visited by covering long distances and suffering the troubles of travel, because great reward and abundant prize are gained from visiting these graves.

The Four Emissaries excelled all the companions and elite friends of the Holy Imams (‘a) in rank and excellence. They thus won the Imam’s representation, emissary, and mediation between him and the subjects for seventy years. They also showed many extraordinary manners and innumerable miracles. Moreover, some scholars are reported to have imputed Divinely-granted infallibility (i.e. ‘ismah) to these personalities.

It goes without saying that these personalities are still mediators between the Imam (‘a) and the subjects after their death; it is therefore necessary to make them the means and way to convey to the Imam, in a written form, the needs and ordeals from which his subjects suffer. Details of these matters have been discussed in relevant topics.

In conclusion, no pen can contain the great merits and supreme statuses of these personalities. We thus hope that the previous discussion gives the visitors the desire to visit their tombs.

FORM OF ZIYARAH OF THE FOUR EMISSARIES

Mentioning the method of visiting the tombs of the Four Emissaries, Shaykh al-Tusi, in his book of Tahdhib al-Ahkam, and Sayyid Ibn Tawus, in his book of Misbah al-Za’ir, have reported the following form of ziyarah from Abu’l-Qasim Husayn ibn Rawh:

You may now mention the name of the visited as well as his father’s name; and then continue:

اَشْهَدُ اَنَّكَ بَابُ الْمَوْلَى اَدَّيْتَ عَنْهُ وَ اَدَّيْتَ اِلَيْهِ مَا خَالَفْتَهُ وَ لا خَالَفْتَ عَلَيْهِ قُمْتَ خَاصّا وَ انْصَرَفْتَ سَابِقا جِئْتُكَ عَارِفا بِالْحَقِّ الَّذِي اَنْتَ عَلَيْهِ وَ اَنَّكَ مَا خُنْتَ فِي التَّأْدِيَةِ وَ السَّفَارَةِ السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ بَابٍ مَا اَوْسَعَهُ [اَوْسَعَكَ‏] وَ مِنْ سَفِيرٍ مَا آمَنَكَ وَ مِنْ ثِقَةٍ مَا اَمْكَنَكَ اَشْهَدُ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ اخْتَصَّكَ بِنُورِهِ حَتَّى عَايَنْتَ الشَّخْصَ فَاَدَّيْتَ عَنْهُ وَ اَدَّيْتَ اِلَيْهِ

جِئْتُكَ مُخْلِصا بِتَوْحِيدِ اللّٰهِ وَ مُوَالاةِ اَوْلِيَائِهِ وَ الْبَرَاءَةِ مِنْ اَعْدَائِهِمْ [اَعْدَائِهِ‏] وَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ خَالَفُوكَ يَا حُجَّةَ الْمَوْلَى وَ بِكَ اِلَيْهِمْ [اللّٰهُمَ‏] تَوَجُّهِي وَ بِهِمْ اِلَى اللّٰهِ [اِلَيْكَ‏] تَوَسُّلِي

You may then pray and beseech Almighty Allah for anything you want, and you will be granted, Allah willing.