Imam Ali Abu Jafar Muhammad bin Ali bin Hussain al-Baqir

Note: The book Kashful Mahjub relates this incidence to Imam Al Baqir; however, Shaykh Ninowy in his lectures has associated the story of Yaqub a.s. (mentioned below) to Imam Zain ul Abidin. The translation of Kashful Mahjub may have some inconsistencies. Also, the beautiful prayer below and the story of Yaqub a.s. all point towards Imam Zain ul Abidin as he was known to have recited the most beautiful prayers, and it was he who was present at the battle of Karbala.

One of his close friends has said that when a portion of the night had passed Imam Baqir would finish his recitations (awraad) and invoke God's mercy loudly in the following words:


"My Lord God! Night has fallen; the reign of the Kings is over, the stars are up in the sky; all mankind has gone to sleep and disappeared; quiet prevails; the needy have stopped knocking at the doors of the rich. The Ummayyad rulers are resting, with watchmen guarding their gates; and those who wanted benefits from them have retired. But my Lord thou art the Eternal, the Living, the Knowing, far from sleeping and dozing. He who does not believe in these qualities is not worthy of receiving anything from Thee. There is nothing which can stop Thee from doing what Thou intendeth to do; the doors of Thy treasures are open at all times, and day or night do not make any difference. He who comes to Thy door never goes empty handed. Thou art the Lord who drives none away from Thy court, nor can any one else in the world stop him from knocking at Thy door. How can I rest when I remember death, grave and accountability on the day of judgement!
Therefore, I beg everything of Thee as there is none else to give; I beesech Thee to allow me to rest in the grave free from torture, and I implore Thee forgive me on the Day of Judgement."

The whole night Imam Baqir would pray like this and weep. His friend said to him "Sir, why do you weep and cry like this?" His reply was, "Prophet Yaqub lost just one son and wept till he went blind. How can I help weeping when I have lost eighteen members of my family, including my grandfather Hussain at Karbala. Have I suffered in any way less than Prophet Yaqub which caused his blindness?"

From Kashf ul Mahjub by Syed Ali Hujweri