THE STORY OF PRESERVATION OF AL-YAMANI
It has been narrated in the book ‘Darus Salaam’ that: I found the Manuscript of Allama Majlisi, the First, behind a supplication famously known as the Yamani Amulet, in the following way: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All Praises are due to Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds. And Peace be upon the noblest of all the Prophets, Mohammad (peace be upon him) and his holy Progeny.
The honourable Sayyid Ameer Mohammad Hashim – May Allah support him and bless him with continuous success – asked me to give him the permission of the Yamani Amulet which is associated with the Commander of the Faithful, the Imam of the Pious, and the best creation after the Chief of Prophets (peace be upon them).
Therefore, I am giving him the permission of narrating this supplication; with my authority chain wherein I have narrated from Ameer Ishaque Astarabadi (who is buried in Karbala near the grave of the Master of all the dwellers of heaven), who narrated from Imam Mahdi (A.S.). Respected Sayyid said: I was on my way to Mecca when I was left behind my caravan, until I lost all hope of living and began to utter the ‘Shahadatayn’ like a person who is nearing his death. Suddenly, I witnessed that our Master, Imam Mahdi (A.S.), was standing near me. His holiness said: O’ Ishaque! Rise. I stood up while I was thirsty, he quenched my thirst and made me sit behind him on his ride. Then I began to recite this Amulet and his holiness corrected my mistakes until the supplication reached its end. At that point, I found myself in ‘Abtah’. We descended the ride and his holiness couldn’t be seen anymore, and my caravan reached that place after nine days.
It became famous between the people of Mecca that I have reached there by ‘Tayy ul Ard’ (traveling miraculously in the shortest of time). Therefore, after performing the rituals of pilgrimage, I went into hiding.
Late Majlisi the first says: He (Ameer Ishaque Astarabadi) had gone forty times for pilgrimage on his feet. When I met him in Isfahan, he had arrived from Karbala with the intention of visiting Imam Reza (A.S.) in Mashhad. He owed 7 Toman to his wife as her ‘Mehr’, and was liable to pay this same amount to one of the residents of Mashhad. On the other hand, he had witnessed in his dream that he is nearing his death. Sayyid said: I resided in Karbala for fifty years hoping to die there, and now I fear that I will die on some land other than Karbala.
When a friend of mine became aware of this incident, he gave 7 Toman to Sayyid and sent one of the religious brothers along with him. That man says: When Sayyid reached Karbala and paid off his debts (to his wife), he fell sick and passed away on the ninth day of his illness, and buried in his own house. Many such miracles were witnessed of him even when he lived in Isfahan.
I have several permissions for this holy narration but will suffice with this permission itself. I request him (Ameer Mohammad Hashim) to remember me on the places where the possibility of the supplications being accepted is higher. And I want him to recite this supplication only for the Pleasure of Allah, and never for the destruction of his enemy if his enemy is from the believers, even if he is a sinner or tyrant. And he should not recite this prayer for collecting the pleasure of this lowly world, but it should be recited only to attain nearness to Allah and to repel the evils of all the devils, both human and Jinn, from himself and from all the believers. He should have such an intention if it may be possible for him, and if not, it is better to stay away from any intention except for the nearness of Allah. These points are written by someone who needs the divine mercy the most, i.e. Mohammad Taqi Majlisi son of Majlisi Isfahani, while I exalt the Almighty and ask Him to bless the Chief of the Prophets (peace be upon him). This is the end of his word. May Allah elevate his grade in heaven eternally!
His son, Late Majlisi (R.A.), has mentioned this incident regarding the visitation of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) by Ameer Ishaque in the thirteenth volume of his book ‘Bihar ul Anwaar’, but it is quite different from the incident we mentioned here.[1]
Allama Majlisi (R.A.) says: the Yamani Amulet, which is also known as the supplication of Saifi, is one amongst the well-known supplications. It has been mentioned in several ways and by different narrations but we will mention the best narration here (by Allah’s will): Abu Abdullah, Hussain bin Ibrahim bin Ali Fatti, better known as Ibn e Khayyat, reports for us saying: Abu Mohammad Haroon bin Moosa Tal’akbari told me:
Abul Qasim Abdul Wahid (Abdullah) bin Yunus Musili narrated for me in Halab that Ali bin Mohammad bin Ahmad, better known as Mustanjid, reported to me that: Abul Hasan Katib narrated for me that Abdur Rahman bin Ali bin Ziyad said: Abdullah bin Abbas and Abdullah bin Ja’far said: One day, while we were in the company of our Master, Imam Ali (A.S.), Hasan bin Ali (A.S.) arrived and said:
O’ Commander of the Faithful! A man has arrived and he seeks permission to visit you. He has the smell of Musk.
His holiness said: Ask him to come.
A good looking man with a nice built and deep face, formal accent and royal clothes, appeared and said:
Peace be upon You O’ Ameer ul Momineen! I have come from one of the farthest places of Yemen and I belong to one of the senior Arabs from your devotees. I had a great kingdom and possessed enormous bounties of life, was living a peaceful and happy life with growing wealth. I had gained sufficient experiences in life and it has examined me thoroughly. I had a ferocious enemy who attacked me with his huge army and the great powers he had gathered, and achieved victory over me. The ways of deceits and escape from him left me helpless and wandering. One night, I had slept off when a person called me: O’ man! Rise and go towards the best creation of Allah after His Messenger (P.B.U.H.), i.e. Ali bin Abi Talib (A.S.), and request him to teach you the supplication which was taught to him by Allah’s special friend, Mohammad (P.B.U.H.); because that supplication is the exclusive Name of Allah. Call Allah by reciting that supplication and curse your enemy who defeated you in the fight.
O’ Commander of the Faithful! I woke up quickly and came to you with a group of four hundred men. And I hold Allah, His Messenger and You, as witnesses that I have released all of them and I am here to performed this act only for the sake of Allah. Now, I have come to you with a thin and aggrieved body from an uneven path and a far way land. Have mercy over me and with your grace and dignity, and also for the sake of your fatherhood and relationship with me, teach me the supplication regarding which I was informed in my sleep and was commanded to seek it from your holy threshold.
Our Master, the Commander of the Faithful, said:
Sure, I will do this for you, if Allah wills.
Then he asked for a paper and pen, and wrote the supplication for that man: Ibn e Abbas (R.A.) narrates the continuation of Imam’s word in the following manner: “Make sure you memorize it, and the entire supplication should be recited in one day. Verily, I am hopeful that while you will reach your land, Allah will have destroyed your enemy completely. Indeed, I heard from the Messenger of Allah that he said: If a man recites this supplication with a rightful intention and humble heart, then command the mountains to walk along with him, they will surely walk behind him, and if he commands the seas, he will be able to walk over them”. That man went back towards his land, and after forty days, his letter reached Imam Ali (A.S.) in which he said: the truth is that Allah has destroyed my enemy, such that not even a single man from their land has remained.
Imam Ali (A.S.) said:
“I already knew about it. And this truth was taught to me by the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.); there is no difficult affair that does not become easy for me with the help of this supplication”.[5]
دار الاختبار [1] ‘A house of examination’
[2]- In Al-Bihar 95: 242 this statement was written as house of examination and not house of choice.
[3]- This was written in different words in various books but what we have mentioned is more acqurate.
[4]- Qur'an 3: 26- 27.
[5] Bihar ul Anwaar: 95/240; Muhaj ud Da’waat: 137 (with slight difference).
[1] Al Abqariyyul Hisaan: 1/117 .
[1] Darus Salaam: 2/12 .