The author of Wasaelus Shiah and other great Islamic books, the late Shaykh Hurre’ Amili writes in his in book Isbatul Huda. At the age of 10 I was afflicted with such an illness that even the doctors who were treating me seemed helpless before my condition.At one point in time, my relatives and close companions had gathered round my bed as if they were awaiting my imminent death. They were sure that I was going to die and were crying out in grief.
That night I was blessed with a visit from the Holy Prophet (sawa) and the 12 holy Imams (as). They were standing around my bed. I conveyed salaam to them and shook hands with each one of them. Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) and I had a small discussion which I am unable to remember now, but what I do remember clearly is that the Holy Prophet (sawa) prayed to Allah in my favour. When I shook hands with Imam Mahdi (as), I told him while I was in tears, O Master, O Sayyed, I am afraid that I will die due to this illness. My desire to seek knowledge will remain unfulfilled.
Imam Mahdi (as) said to me, Do not be afraid. You will not die because of this disease. Allah (sawa) will grant you a cure from it. You will have a long life. There was a glass of water in his (as) hands, which he gave me. I drank the water from the glass and immediately I felt that I was cured. My family members who were sitting there was astonished at this miraculous recovery. After a few days, I told them about this incident that that resulted in my cure.
Lessons from this incident
This incident teaches us that we must never despair of Allah’s mercy. For surely it is a major sin to lose hope of the mercy of Allah. We must remember that we are lovers of that Imam (as) who says, “We are not negligent of your affairs and always remember you”. Having said that, it is our duty that we always remain in contact with him and seek his (as) help.
Apart from this, the incident teaches us that it is only the Imam of the Time (as) who can grant us a cure from our illness by a single glass of water. It is possible that Shaykh Hurre’ Amili was cured due to his earnest desire to seek knowledge for the sake of serving Allah and Islam. Truly Shaykh Hurre’ Amili enlivened religion by his effort of collecting the tradition of the infallible Imams (as). We pray to Allah that He grant us the taufeeq for sincerity in our intentions and actions.