18. My father narrated to me from Sa’d ibn ‘Abdillāh, from Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Isā, from Abī Yūsuf Ya’qūb ibn ‘Abdillāh who was from the children of Abī Fāťimah, from Ismā’īl ibn Zayd servant of ‘Abdillāh ibn Yaḥyā Al-Kāhili, who said: Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq ) said:

A man came to the Commander of the Believers in the Mosque of Kūfah and said, “Salām to you, O Commander of the Believers. May Allāh’s Mercy and His Blessings be upon you!” The Commander of the Believers answered his Salām. “May I sacrifice myself for you! I am leaving for the Mosque of Aqsā and I wanted to bid farewell to you,” the man said. The Commander of the Believers asked, “What do you hope to gain by going there?” The man said, “May I sacrifice myself for you! Rewards!” The Commander of the Believers said: Sell your camel, spend your money, and pray in this mosque instead, for establishing obligatory prayers in this mosque is equal to performing a purified Hajj, and establishing recommended prayers in it is equal to performing a purified ‘Umrah. The blessings of this mosque extend to a twelve mile (radius). The right side of this mosque is prosperity but its left side is cunning. In the middle of this mosque, there is a well of oil, a well of milk, a well of water for the believers to drink, and a well of water to purify the believers. The ark of Nūḥ embarked from here and Nasr, Yaghūth, and Ya’ūq were placed here. The Commander of the Believers continued: Seventy prophets and seventy successors have prayed in this mosque, and I am one of them – and he pointed to his own chest. No anguished person asks Allāh for anything in it (the Mosque of Kūfah) without Allāh granting (his request) and relieving him of his grief.