Imam Ali bin Hussein (Zain ul Abedin), the Fourth Imam (Part 3)

Serving the pilgrims caravan

He is a grandson of the Prophet. On his pilgrimage to Mecca he avoided joining a caravan whose member know him. He was looking for a caravan coming from far away distances whose members didn’t know him to join as an unknown person. He entered the office of a caravan. He requested them to allow him to serve in the caravan. They accepted. Those days the trip would take about 12 days because they had to travel on horseback or camelback. During the entire trip, the Imam worked as a servant of the pilgrims. In the course of the trip, a gentleman joined the caravan and incidentally he knew the Imam. He went to the caravan members and asked: do you know who is the man whom you have hired as your servant? We don’t know this young man; he is from Medina and is a very nice gentleman. Yes, he said, you don’t him. Had you known him, you would not command him and hire him to serve you. Who is he? They asked. He said: he is Ali bin Hussein bin Abi Talib and the grandson of the holy Prophet. They immediately came to him and begged his apology: Sir, why did you do that? We could have gone beyond the limit and committed sin; we should serve you not the other way round. He said: In fact, I have experienced and I know that when I travel with a caravan whose members know me; they would not allow me to serve them.  Hence, I decided to travel with a caravan whose members don’t know me so that I would be able to serve the Muslim brothers. 

Collection of Works, Vol. 18

Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi

Other links:

Imam Sadjad’s Written Works

Imam Sadjad (A.S) after Tragedy of Karbala

Imam Sadjad (A.S) In the Court of Ibn-e-Ziad

Imam Sadjad (A.S) Speech in Kufa