Janab Ayatollah Ziya Iraqi narrates, a person from the city of Qatif in the Hejaz, left his home with the intention of completing the Ziyarat of Imam Ali Reza (as). While walking, when he had completed half the distance to his destination, he fell short of the money which he had carried with himself for expenses. He did not have enough money to either return home or to continue the journey. He was distressed and troubled over his poor condition. He was in two minds over what he should do. A thought came into his mind that he should seek help from Imam Mahdi (as) so that he (as) can help him resolve his difficulty.
While he began to seek help from Imam Mahdi (as), he saw suddenly that a person with a splendid personality was walking alongside him. This person said, Mister! Take this money which will be sufficient to reach Samarrah. When you reach Samarrah, you can get in touch with my representative, Sayyed Mirza Shirazi. When you meet him, inform him that Sayyed Mahdi has sent you to him. Inform him that some of his money is in his possession and from that, he should give you that much amount which will help you to reach the Ziyarat of Imam Ali Reza (as).
The poor person says that I was not very attentive to the words of this Sayyed. Finally I said, When I meet Sayyed Shirazi, he will definitely ask me who is the person who has sent you. What did he look like and what are his special features? What will I reply to him?
He said, When Sayyed Shirazi will ask you, you should inform him that Sayyed Mohammed said that this year, in the summer, you visited Shaam (Damascus) for the Ziyarat of my aunt Hazrat Zainab (sa) along with Mulla Ali Kani Tehrani. Due to the high number of pilgrims, some dirt had collected there in the courtyard. At that time, you had taken off your cloak (Aba) and starting cleaning the courtyard. You collected the dirt at one place and Haji Mulla Ali Kani threw it out. At that time, I was there…
The person narrates that when I reached Samarrah and related this episode to Ayatollah Shirazi, he involuntarily stood up in his place. Then he came forward and embraced me. He kissed me and congratulated me. Then he gave me some money using which I was able to comfortably complete the Ziyarat and return home.
Ref: Shiftagaan Hazrat Mahdi, volume 3, page 142
Lessons from this incident
There are several lessons which can be derived from this incident. Some of these are as follows:
As the above incidents show, the visitors to the shrines of Imams (as) are the guests of Imam Mahdi (as). He pays special attention to them and resolves their difficulties.
While there are many incidents to this effect, here is one incident which took place recently. The incident concerns a person who is related to the Bohra community. While he had accepted the Shiah Ithna Ashari faith, his family members had not done so yet. During Hajj, he travelled with a Bohra group.
As per the custom, members of the group put the money for the tour in an envelope which was to be handed over to the tour operator at Jeddah. However at the airport, they realised that their envelopes were missing. The tour operator was adamant that the money be given at the airport itself. Therefore he loaned the money from other members of the group and they carried on for Hajj.
After completing the tawaaf, this person sat down before the Kaabah and recited Dua Azomal Bala for the solution to their difficulty. They did tawassul with Imam Mahdi (as) so that they would be relieved. Hardly they arrived at the hotel after this that a phone call came from Jeddah that their envelopes had been found and a person would deliver it to the hotel.
When his wife saw this, she was convinced of the faith of Shiah Ithna Ashari and the belief in Imam Mahdi (as).