Seerah

Mu'alla, who was a servant of Imam Sadiq (A.S.), narrates the following event:

"One rainy night, as Imam Sadiq (A.S.) left his house, I calmly followed him. Suddenly, something fell out of his hands onto the ground. I approached him and greeted him. He asked:" Is it you Mu'alla?"

"Yes" I replied, "O son of the messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)". He then said:" Touch the ground and hand me what you find." I stretched my hand toward the ground and found a piece of bread. I took it and returned it back to him. It was then that I realized Imam Sadiq (A.S.) was carrying a sack full of bread, some of which had fallen to the ground. I said: "My Master! Let me carry the sack." He refused:" No! I am worthier for carrying it; yet, follow me!"

I followed him until we reached the shelter of Bani Sa'idah. The Shelter of Bani Sa'idah was an area where people gathered to shelter themselves from the extreme daytime heat; and where the poor and needy would sleep there during the night. There, I realized that Imam Sadiq (A.S.) had left his house in the dark night in order to help the poor.

Imam Sadiq (A.S.) took loaves of bread out from the sack and placed one or two beside each person, making sure that no one was left out.

On our way back home, I asked the Imam (A.S.): "Do these people whom you help so much know the truth (are they Shiites)?" Imam Sadiq (A.S.) replied:" If they knew the truth (and followed the school of the Ahl al-Bait (A.S.)), I would make them my partners?." (Selection taken from:" The Family of Infallibility", by Taqi Waredi)

Footnotes:

1-Muntaha al-Aamal fi Tarikh al-Nabi va al-Aal, vol. 2, p. 127