ʿAmr al-ʿAlāʾ, as the poet said:
ʿAmr al-ʿAlāʾ crumbled tharid for his people
while Mecca’s men were gaunt and lean.

Jaʿfar Abū ʿAbd Allah passed away in the year 148 AH, during the rule of Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr.

As for the Awaited One (al-Muntaẓar), a number of scholars who specialise in the genealogies of Ahl al-Bayt report that when al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAskarī died in ʿAskar Sāmarrāʾ he left neither offspring nor descendants. Those who affirm that he had a son say that when his father died in 260 AH the boy was two years old—or only slightly older—went into occultation from that time, and has since been Allah’s proof to the inhabitants of the earth; that faith is not complete without him; that he is the Mahdī foretold by the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace); and that he possesses full knowledge of everything required in the religion.

In such a matter the Muslim must proceed with caution, seek guidance from Allah, and implore His help, for Allah has forbidden speaking without knowledge and has described it as one of Satan’s snares. He has also forbidden statements that contradict the truth; the explicit verses of revelation bear witness to this, and He has prohibited following caprice.

With regard to the Mahdī promised by the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), the report has been transmitted by scholars thoroughly versed in his traditions—those who preserve them and scrutinise them and their chains of transmission—such as Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī and others; Imām Aḥmad likewise recorded it in his Musnad.

ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd relates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Even if only one day remained of this world, Allah would lengthen that day until He sends a man from my household whose name matches mine and whose father’s name matches my father’s. He will fill the earth with equity and justice just as it had been filled with oppression …”