Faces in Barzakh would be like People's Faces in this World

There is a narration from Imam Sadiq (a.s) in Amali of Shaykh Tusi (r.a.). At the end of it, the Imam has said, "When Almighty God recovers one's soul, He send his soul in its worldly form and shape. There they eat and drink and when a new man (spirit of another dead) arrives to them they recognize him in his worldly face, form and shape." In another tradition the Imam has said that the spirits of the faithful meet one another and talk with one another and recognize one another so much so that if you happen to see anyone of them you will say this is so and so. New arrivals questioned about Others In another tradition, the Imam said, "The spirits dwell in body forms in a garden in paradise. They recognize and know one another. They ask questions and get replies from one another. When a new spirit comes to them they say, 'Leave it (as it is) because it is arriving towards us after being freed from a great calamity (that is death).' Then they ask it, 'What about so and so and such and such person?' If he replies, 'He was alive until I came here', the spirits express their hope that (God willing, he will also come to them). But if the newly arrived soul says that he had already left the world they say, 'He has fallen down.' It means that when he has not yet come here, he surely must have gone to hell."

Spirits Meet their Worldly Relatives and Friends There are some narrations in Biharul Anwar, Kafi and other books. Their gist is: The spirits living in Barzakh come to visit their near and dear ones. Some of them come daily, some once in two days, and some once in three days, some on every Friday, some once in a month and some once a year. This difference depends on their condition, places of dwelling and their freedom or captivity. According to a narration, a faithful soul sees nothing except the well being and pleasing things about his or her near and dear ones. If there is anything contrary to it, that thing is not shown to him or her (soul in Barzakh). Such disturbing things are kept unknown so that it may not be come unhappy. The spirit of an unbeliever sees nothing except bad and painful things about its near and dear ones. The Pool of Kauthar in Barzakh Abdullah bin Sinan is quoted in several books of traditions and narrations. He asked Imam Sadiq (a.s) about the Pool of Kauthar (a heavenly spring). He replied, "Its length is equal to the distance between Basra and Yemen (Sana)." When he expressed his astonishment he asked, "May I show it to you?" I said, "Yes, O my Master!" Then the Imam took him out of Medina. There he kicked the ground on one spot and said, "See!" (Veils before his eyes were removed by the order of the Imam. He says, "I saw a huge spring flowing, the shores of which were not visible except the spot on which we stood and which was like a small island. I saw a spring at one bank of which snow white water was flowing in waves and on the other bank whiter than snow milk flowing and in between the two, flowed wine, which had fine red colour that was more attractive than topaz both in sheen and fineness. I had never before seen such a wine of the best quality flowing between pure milk and snow white water." I said, "O Master! May I be sacrificed on you. From where does this spring flow?" The Imam replied, "As mentioned by Almighty God in the Holy Quran, there is a spring of milk, a spring of water and a spring of wine in paradise. All these three springs come from there.

" The narrator says, "I saw many trees on both the banks of this spring and a houri near every tree. She had such beautiful hair the like of which I had never seen before. There was a utensil in the hands of every houri. The said vessels were so beautiful that I had never seen such utensils in the world. They did not belong to this material world. He hinted to a houri to serve water. She filled that utensil from that spring and presented it to the Imam. He drank from it. He asked her again to fill it. She complied with the command and the Imam gave that utensil to me. I drank from it and found that I had never tasted such a nice, delicious and pleasing drink ever before. It had a fragrance of musk. I said, 'May I be sacrificed on you. Whatever I observed today is such that I had not only never seen before but also never even imagined before, (that such things could ever be available in the world).'" The Imam said, "What you have seen is only a small specimen of the bounties provided by God Almighty for our Shias. When somebody leaves the world his or her spirit is taken to this stream and around this garden of paradise. He eats its fruits and drinks its wines. Whenever our enemy dies, his soul is being taken to Wadi-e-Barhoot. He remains in its torture forever. He is forced to eat 'Zaqqoom' (a thorny cactus tree) and drink hot hell water. So pray to God for being protected from the said Barhoot valley." Kauthar and Hameem at the Moment of Death Among those who were shown the paradise of Barzakh in this world are companions of the chief of the martyrs, Imam Husain (a.s.) to whom the Holy Imam had shown their places and stations in Barzakh. In Biharul Anwar, Vol: 3, it is mentioned that Imam Baqir (a.s) said, "No believer leaves this world unless, at his last moments, angels make him drink the Kauthar water. Likewise no unbeliever dies until he is made to drink Hameem (Hell water).

Barhoot - A Sample of Hell in Barzakh As stated earlier, 'Wadi-us-Salam' (the Valley of Peace) is the abode of the fortunate souls who gather there and Barhoot, which is a barren arid desert, is the place where dirty and evil souls are put to torture. It is a specimen of Hell of Barzakh. The following tradition makes the matter clearer: One day a man went to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) the last messenger of God, and, expressing his restlessness and anxiety, said, "I have seen a very strange thing." The Holy Prophet asked, "What is it?" He replied, "My wife became seriously ill. People told me, 'If you bring water from a well situated in the Vale of Barhoot, her illness can be cured.' (Some skin diseases are cured by mineral waters). So I got ready and proceeded towards that valley with a skin to fill that water and also a cup for fetching it from the said well. There I saw a very frightening forest. Despite being afraid, I gathered courage and went on in search of that well (At last I found it). Suddenly I heard the clanking of a chain from above. That chain came down. I saw a man caught in that chain requesting me to give him some water as he was dying of thirst. When I raised my head to offer him a cup of water I saw that he was fastened to that hanging chain. Whenever I tried to give him water he was dragged up to the red-hot sun. Then I tried to fill my bag with water. That man was again lowered by the dangling chain suddenly and complained bitterly about his deadly thirst. I tried to hand over the cup to him but again he was pulled up right upto the sun. It happened for the third time too. At last I tied my water bag and could not give any water to him. I have become terribly frightened by observing all this and have come to your honour to ascertain the reason of all this." The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied, "That unfortunate man is Qabil, son of Adam (a.s.). He had killed his brother Habil. Then his mind facilitated to him the slaying of his brother so he slew him; then he became one of the losers. (5:30) He will remain in this condition of torture till the day of Judgement and will finally fall in the painful punishment of Hell."