around the year 450 AH (1). Al-Mustanṣir therefore ordered that it be restored to its former state. The Rāfiḍites produced long-winded, vapid excuses for the burning of that shrine—words without substance—and even compiled whole treatises (2) and recited copious poems that carried no meaning. This is the very shrine from which they claim the “Awaited One,” who in truth has no existence, will emerge, though there is neither sign nor trace of him (3). Indeed, it would have been better had the building never been erected (4). That “Awaited One,” as they allege, is al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Jawād ibn ʿAlī al-Riḍā ibn Mūsā al-Kāẓim ibn Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq ibn Muḥammad al-Bāqir (5) ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn al-Ḥusayn, the martyr of Karbalāʾ, son of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—may Allah be pleased with them all. May Allah disgrace anyone who goes to extremes concerning them, or who, because of them, despises those better than they.
Al-Mustanṣir—may Allah have mercy on him—was generous, forbearing, a leader beloved by the people. He was handsome in appearance, noble in character, and majestic to behold; upon him shone the light of the Prophetic Household—may Allah be pleased with him and grant him His favor.
It is related (6) that he once passed on horseback through one of Baghdad’s alleyways shortly before sunset in Ramadan. He noticed an elderly man carrying a vessel of food that he had brought from one quarter of the city to another. The caliph said, “Old man, why did you not take your food from your own neighborhood? Are you so needy that you must take (7) from two quarters?” The man replied, “No, by Allah, my lord”—unaware that he was addressing the caliph—“but I am an old man, the time for breaking the fast has come (8), and I am ashamed to crowd the people of my quarter at mealtime, lest those who dislike me gloat over me. I therefore go to another quarter, take food there, and wait (9) until the people are engaged in the maghrib prayer; then I enter my house with the food in such a way (10) that no one sees me.” The caliph wept—may Allah have mercy on him—and ordered that the man be given one thousand dinars. When the money reached him, the shaykh rejoiced so intensely that it was said his heart burst from sheer joy; he lived only twenty days thereafter and then died. The thousand dinars were returned (11) to the caliph, for he left (12) no heir. He had spent only a single dinar of it, and they were amazed.