Rafed English

At al-Tammar's Shop

Imam Ali [a] went to the market to meet Maytham al-Tammar. He sat and talked with him. Some people passed by them. They did not know the Imam. And some knew him. They were astonished to see the Imam sitting with a date seller.

One day, Imam Ali [a] went to the market. He sat with Maytham. After a while, Maytham wanted to go to buy something. He asked the Imam's permission and went away.

The Imam stayed behind to sell dates. In the meantime, a man came to buy some dates worth four dirhams. The man took the dates and went away.

Maytham came back. He was astonished to see the dirhams because they were false. The Imam smiled and said:

The owner of the dirhams will come back.

Again Maytham became astonished. He wondered:

The man bought the dates by false dirhams!

Why will he come back?

After an hour, the owner of the dirhams came back. He said angrily:

I don't want these dates! They are bitter! Why are they bitter?

The Imam said:

Because your dirhams are false!

The man was full of astonishment. He took the dirhams and went away.

The Market

Ziyad bin Abeeh became a ruler over Kufa. He began killing Imam Ali's companions. He carried out Mu'awiyah orders. Mu'awiyah was full of spite. He ordered people to abuse Imam Ali [a].

The ruler appointed a man to look after the market. The man was unjust. The people complained of his bad treatment. The people were afraid of the man. Thus, they went to Maytham. They asked Maytham to go with them to the Prince. They said to him:

Maytham, come with us to the Prince.

Maytham went with them. He met the Prince and told him about the rude treatment in the market. A policeman in the Palace was displeased with Maytham's words. He said to the Prince:

Your Highness, the Prince, do you know this man?

The Prince said:

No!

He's a liar! The supporter of a liar!

The policeman meant that Maytham was one of Imam Ali's companions.

Maytham said:

Surely, I'm truthful! I'm the supporter of a truthful man. Really, he's Amirul Mu'mineen! (the Commander of the Faithful)

Adopted from the book: "Maytham al-Tammar" by: "Kamal al-Seyyed"

Share this article

Comments 0

Your comment

Comment description

Latest Post

Most Reviews

MOST READ