A Detailed Account of The Imam's Marriage

A detailed account of the marriage of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) was told by Majlisi in Biharul Anwar. His father Imam Ali Naqi (AS) entrusted this important matter to his friend Bashir ibn Sulaiman. First the Imam wrote a letter in the script of ‘Rum’ and sealed it with his own noble seal. He placed the letter in a red purse, with 220 Dinars and then said to his friend, “Take this letter and go to Baghdad. Go to the ferry at the River Tigris when the boats from Syria are being unloaded.

Look out for the ship owner whose name is Amr. Observe when he exhibits a slave girl who would be wearing two silk garments and a veil to protect her from being seen or handled by the buyers. You will hear her call out in the language of ‘Rum’, ‘even if you have the wealth and glory of Solomon the son of David, I can never have affection for you, so take care lest you waste your money in purchasing me.’ And if a buyer approaches her, she will say, ‘Cursed be the man who unveils my eyebrow’ Her owner will then protest, ‘But what recourse have I, I am compelled to sell you? You will then hear the slave answer, ‘Why this haste, let me choose my purchaser, that my heart may accept him in confidence and gratitude.’

“You are to go then O Bashir, and tell the trader Amr that you have a letter written in the script of Rum by a certain nobleman, and that this letter shows his kindness, appreciation and liberality. You must give this letter to the slave girl to read, that she may agree to be bought by the man who has passed this letter to you.

Bashir reported later, “When I carried out these instructions and the girl received the letter, she began to cry as she read the letter. Then she said to Amr, “Sell me to the writer of this letter, for if you refuse I would surely be very unhappy and you will never be able to sell me to anyone else.” I therefore talked over the price with Amr, until we agreed on the 220 Dinars my master had given me. When I paid the money, and received the girl. She came with me without protest. In fact she was smiling and looking very pleased. In her excitement she took the letter from the Imam Ali Naqi (AS) from her pocket and kissed it, put it on her eyes and then put it back into her pocket. I told her I was amazed that she should act this way when as yet she did not know the writer. She answered, “May the descendant of the Prophet dispel your doubts.” Afterwards she gave me the following account of herself.

“I am a princess, the granddaughter of the Emperor of Rum. My mother was a descendant of the disciple Simon, the vicegerent of Jesus. My grandfather the Emperor was anxious to marry me to his nephew. I was 15 years old. At his castle he gathered a great assembly, including 300 monks and hermits, 700 of the nobility and 4000 of the officials of the army. I had a special throne made for me where I sat with the man I was about to wed. Christian priests were ready to pay us honour. They opened the Injil (Bible), and immediately all the images around us fell to the ground and broke. My cousin also fell down on the ground and fainted. All the great officials were overcome with fear and said,” O’ king, preserve us from witnessing this ill-fated day, for this sort of thing is a proof of the decline and disappearance of the Christian religion as we know it.” At this my grandfather was very angry and he ordered that all images should be brought back and put in their places. Once again they all fell down and a great storm blew the lights all around. At this second occurrence people were frightened and left the assembly hall. My grandfather fell himself and the whole occasion was cancelled for some other day.

One night after this I saw a dream, in which Jesus appeared with his disciples at the palace where the throne was erected. Their they built a pulpit of light, and behold, Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his Wasi Ali (AS) and all his exalted descendants came into the palace. Jesus went forward to embrace Muhammad (SA) who said, O’ Spirit of God, I have come to seek the daughter of your Wasi Simon for my son Hasan al-Askari.” Jesus (AS) looked to Simon who was with him and said, “Nobility and glory has come to you in this chance to unite mercy with that of the family of Muhammad (SA).” To this Simon assented and all of them assented to the pulpit of Light while Muhammad (SA) conducted the wedding service. After the dream, when I woke up I was afraid and dared not repeat the story to my father or my brothers for fear that they would kill me. While I kept the secret, love of Hasan al-Askari found its place in my heart. As a result of not eating I grew thin and became ill. All possible treatment was available for me but without success. In the end my father told me, “O’ you, who have seen a light, tell me what is wrong with me. The doors of pleasure are closed for me. A voice replied, "if you set some of your prisoners free, it is possible that Jesus and his mother may help you.” I told my father of this dream and requested that some of the prisoners should be set free. My father granted my request, and after that I took food and felt better. A few days passed and I had another vision, when Fatima the daughter of the Prophet and Mariam, the mother of Jesus came to me and explained that Hasan al-Askari could not come to me unless I should become a Muslim and declare, that there no God but One God and Muhammad is the last apostle of God. This I accepted and after that I saw Hasan al-Askari in my vision.”

But how did you come to fall among the prisoners? asked Bashir. She replied, “Hasan al-Askari told me that my father was planning to send an army against the Muslims and that I should disguise myself and some of my women servants and arrange to go along with the army. I did this and before long some of the Muslim army guards captured us, and now you see how it all turned out.”

Bashir related that when they reached Samarrah he went to the Imam Ali Naqi (AS) who received the party gladly. The Imam asked the girl if he should give her Ten Thousand Dinars or a bit of good news. When she chose the latter, he informed her that she was to be given to his son Hasan al-Askari as she has seen in her dreams and that she was to be the mother of the one who was to cause justice to reign upon the earth. She was then committed to Ali Naqi’s sister Hakima who was to look after her.

Such is the account of the wedding of Hasan al-Askari to Nargis Khatoon as Majlisi recorded it in such detail in Bihar-al-Anwar.(The same account was found in Shaikh Tusi’s book) A few days later the wedding took place between Imam Hasan al-Askari and Nargis Khatoon, the grand daughter of the Emperor of Rum.