6. Muḥammad ibn ‘Abdillāh ibn Ja’far Al-Ḥimyari narrated to me from his father, from ‘Ali ibn Muḥammad ibn Sālim, from Muḥammad ibn Khālid, from ‘Abdillāh ibn Ḥammād Al-Basri, from ‘Abdillāh ibn ‘Abdil Raḥmān Al-Asam, from Mudlij, from Muḥammad ibn Muslim, who said:

Once I went to Madīnah while I was ill and people informed him (Imam Bāqir ) that I was ill. Abū Ja’far (Imam Bāqir ) sent a boy to me who was carrying a drink which was covered with a handkerchief. The boy gave me the drink and said, “Drink it (now). He (the Imam ) has ordered me not to return until you drink it.” So I drank it (immediately). It smelled like musk and it was cold and tasty. After I finished drinking it, the boy said to me, “Your master has ordered you to go and meet him as soon as you finish your drink.” I thought about what he said and (the fact that) I could not even stand on my legs before (drinking) this drink. However, as soon as the drink entered my body, I was energized and my cramp was relieved. I went to the Imam and asked for permission to enter. Imam raised his voice and said, “O healthy one! Enter.” I entered, crying. I said Salām to him and kissed his hand and head. Imam asked, “O Muḥammad! Why are you crying?” I replied, “May I sacrifice myself for you! I cry for the loneliness of living so far from you and for not having the ability to live next to you so that I can look at you.” Imam said: As for the lack of ability, this is what Allāh has willed for our friends and those who love us. And the afflictions befall them quickly (in this life). As for the loneliness, verily the believers are lonely in this life among this deviated creation until they leave this life (going) toward the Mercy of Allāh. As for living so far from us, you should console yourself with (remembering) Abī ‘Abdillāh (Imam Ḥusain ) who is in a land next to the Euphrates (River) so far from us. As for that which you mentioned about your love for being close to us and looking at us but not being able to do so, verily Allāh knows that which is in your heart and He will reward you accordingly. Then the Imam asked, “Do you go to the grave of Ḥusain ?” I replied, “Yes, but in (the state of) fear and apprehension.” Imam said: The more dangerous it becomes, the greater the reward will be, equal to the amount of fear. Those who go to the grave of Ḥusain in fear will return while they are forgiven. The angels say Salām to them, the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ will see them and see their actions and will pray for them, and Allāh will make them feel safe on the Day when people will be raised for the Lord of the Worlds. “They returned, therefore with grace and favour from Allāh and no harm touched them, and they followed the pleasure of Allāh” (3:174). Then the Imam asked me, “How did you find the drink?” I replied: I testify that you are the family of mercy and you are the successor of the successors. When the boy brought that which you had sent, I could not even stand on my legs and I had given up on myself. After he gave me the drink and I drank it, I felt that I had never smelled (a drink) like this and I had never tasted a colder and a more tasty drink than this. After I finished drinking it, the boy said to me, “The Imam ordered me to tell you to go and meet him as soon as you finish your drink.” I knew how poor my condition was but I thought to myself that I would come to you even if this causes my death. However, as soon as I started coming toward you, I felt energized and my cramp was relieved. So praise be to Allāh who has made you the Mercy for your Shia and for me. Imam said: O Muḥammad! The drink from which you drank contained some of the clay of the grave of Ḥusain and it is the best of cures. Therefore, do not replace it with anything else, for verily we give this drink to our children and women and we find all of the blessings in it. I asked, “May I sacrifice myself for you! Should we take some of this clay (as well) and cure ourselves with it?” Imam replied: People (often) take from this clay and bring it out of the Ḥā`ir while it is visible. However, when they pass by any jinn or animal who is ill or pass by anything else which is diseased, it smells the clay. Therefore, its blessing disappears and others benefit from it. But the clay that we use as a cure is not like this. If it was not for that which I mentioned, everyone who touched the clay of the grave of Ḥusain or drank from the water which contains it would have been cured immediately. It is exactly like Ḥajar Al-Aswad: the ill ones, the disbelievers, and the pagans kept touching it and being cured by it. It was as white as the whitest corundum but (through time) it became black, as you (now) see. I asked, “May I sacrifice myself for you! What is wrong with the way I take it?” Imam replied, “You show it to others and you do what others do. You dishonour it by placing it in your saddlebag or in things which will tarnish it. Therefore, it will lose the effect that you seek from it.” I said, “May I sacrifice myself for you! You are right.” Imam said, “Everyone who takes from the clay of the grave of Ḥusain does not know how it should be taken. Therefore, it does not remain intact in the hands of the people.” I asked, “May I sacrifice myself for you! How can I take from it the way you do?” Imam replied, “Do you want me to give you some of it?” I said, “Yes.” Imam asked, “What will you do with it?” I replied, “I will take it with me.” Imam asked, “Where will you place it?” I replied, “In my clothes.” Imam said, “Then you are going back to what you used to do. Drink from the water which contains the clay here and do not carry it with you because it will not remain intact with you.” Thereafter, the Imam gave me from that drink twice and I found no sign of that illness from which I was suffering, and then I left.