A man of knowledge was longing for meeting with Hadrat Baqiyyat Allah Imam Mahdi (AJ), and he suffered agonies of not being granted the chance. For a long time he underwent severe austerity and pursued spiritual seeking. It is well-known among the tullab (Islamic seminary students)of Hawza in Najaf-i Ashraf and the scholars of the holy shrine of Imam Ali (A.S.) that every one who finds the honor to go the Masjid-i Sahla to perform the evening and night prayers every Tuesday uninterruptedly for forty nights, they will be graced with meeting the Imam al-Asr (AJ).
For a while, he struggled to this end but to no effect. Then he resorted to the occult sciences and numerical symbolism and started self-discipline and other ascetic and rigorous practices in seclusion, anxiously seeking to meet the Hidden Imam (AJ) but all in vain. However, as a consequence of his nightly vigilance and lamenting and wailing at dawns, he had developed some kind of insight and intuition, and occasionally some illuminating flash would be graced on him. He would fall in ecstasy and rapture, often having certain and hearing some subtleties. In one of these mystical states, he was told: "Your seeing and being granted an audience with Imam al-Asr (AJ) will not be possible, unless you make a trip to such a city
. Quite difficult as it sounded at first, but for that sacred purpose, it appeared to be so convenient. Imam al-Asr (AJ) in the Blacksmiths' Bazaar After several days the above-mentioned man arrived in that city and yet even there he carried on his self-discipline and ascetic practices in seclusion that intended to last forty long. On the thirty seventh day, he was told: "Right now Hadrat Baqiyyat Allah, Imam al-Asr (AJ) is in the blacksmiths' bazaar, in a shop belonging to an old locksmith; so, be quick to go now and seek his audience. He stood up and, as he had already seen in his ecstatic vision, rushed the way down to the old man's shop where he saw the Holy Imam (AJ) sitting there and talking amiably with the locksmith. When he greeted, the holy Imam responded and beckoned to keep silent, [implying] watching for a wonderful scene.
The Equity of the Old Locksmith At this moment I saw a bent, fragile, old woman with a walking stick who showed us a lock with her shaking hand and said: :Will you, for God's sake, buy this lock from me for "three shahis"(A shahi equals around a penny); I need three shahis? (A shahi equals around a penny) The old locksmith took a look at the lock and found it intact, and then said:" My sister! This lock costs "Two abbasis"( an abbasi equals four shahis )because its key will cost no more than "ten dinars; (A dinar equals one-fifth of a shahi), so if you give me ten dinars I will make a key to this lock and then it will cost ten shahis".
The old woman answered: "No, I do not need that, I only need the money; if you buy this lock from me for three shahis, I will pray for you". The old man said with utmost naivety: "My sister! You are a Muslim, and I too claim to be a Muslim. So why should I buy a Muslim's property for a low price and deny someone's right? This lock already costs eight shahis; if I want to benefit from it, I'll buy it for seven shahis, for it is unfair to make more that a shahi profit in a deal of only two abbasis. If you are sure you want to sell it' I'll buy it for seven shahis, and I repeat again, the real price is two abbasis. Since I am a businessman I buy it for one shahi less. The old woman perhaps would not believe what the man said. She was upset and complained that nobody had been willing to buy that price.
She said she begged them to buy it for three shahis, because ten dinars would not have sufficed her... The old man paid seven shahis to the old woman and purchased it from her. I will Visit him! When the woman turned back to leave, the Imam (AJ) said to me: "My Dear! Did you watch the wonderful scene? You do likewise too, and become like that, then I will come to see you. There is no need for ascetic seclusion and resorting to Jafr (numerical symbolism). Self discipline and various travels will not be required; instead show good action and be a Muslim so that I can interact with you. Of all people of this city, I picked out this old man, since this man is religious and knows God.
And you observed the trial he went through: This old woman requested all in the bazaar, to fulfill her need and since they found her desperate and needy, they were all seeking to buy [her lock] cheap; and nobody bought it even for three shahis. This old man, however, bought it for its real price, i.e., seven shahis Thus, every week I pay a visit to him and show kindness and amiability to him."(Sarmaye Sokhan (The capital of speech), I, 611-613, slightly abridged). Source: The Elixir of Love Written By: Muhammad Rayshahri