Hasan Zayyat of Basrah reports: My friend and I went to the presence of Imam al-Baqir
while he was sitting in a well-decorated room with a purple mantle on his
shoulder. He had trimmed his beard and blackened his eyes with kohl. I was full
of questions. Realizing this, the Imam said, “Hasan! You and your friend may
come to me tomorrow.” I said, “Very well, may I be your ransom!” The next day,
we went to see him. He was sitting on a mat and wearing coarse clothes. He
turned to my friend and said, “O brother of Basrah! When you came to me
yesterday, I was in my wife’s room. It was her turn. The room was hers as well
as all the articles. She had made up herself for me and I had to make up myself
for her. Don’t give way to gloomy thought about me.” My friend said, “May I be
your ransom. By Allah, something passed in my mind but Allah removed it now and
I know that truth lies in what you said.”
[ Al-Kafi: 448/6, H 13.]
Taken from: AHLULBAYT ISLAMIC MISSION
