necessarily entails travelling to his mosque, and that is a practice established beyond dispute, for there is no way to reach his blessed chamber except by first entering his mosque. Therefore let the visitor begin with the greeting of the mosque, and thereafter with the greeting of the master of the mosque—may Allah grant us and you that favour, amīn (1).

Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār said: The mother of this Ḥasan ibn Ḥasan was Khawlah bint So-and-so (2) al-Fazāriyyah. She was also the mother of Ibrāhīm, Dāwūd and al-Qāsim, the sons of Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah al-Taymī, the devout worshipper.

He further said: Ḥasan was the trustee of ʿAlī’s charitable endowment.

One day al-Ḥajjāj, while riding beside him in his entourage in Medina, said, “Include your uncle ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī with you in ʿAlī’s endowment, for he is your uncle and the last of your kin.”

He replied, “I will not alter ʿAlī’s stipulation.”

Al-Ḥajjāj answered, “Then admit him with you.”

Subsequently Ḥasan travelled to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, who welcomed him, bestowed gifts upon him, and wrote him a letter to al-Ḥajjāj that was not to be overridden (3).

Zāʾidah relates from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, who said:

Abū Muṣʿab told me that ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān wrote to Hishām ibn Ismāʿīl, the governor of Medina: “News has reached me that Ḥasan ibn Ḥasan is corresponding with the people of Iraq; summon him.”

So he was brought.

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn said to him, “Cousin, recite the words of relief: ‘There is no god but Allah, the Forbearing, the Generous; there is no god but Allah, the Most High, the Most Great; there is no god but Allah, Lord of the seven heavens, Lord of the earth, and Lord of the noble Throne.’”

He said: “And I was set free.” (4)