The Dates

“About the meaning of the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘. . . he must find clean and pure food and must bring thereof for you for your sustenance 5 (18:9) abu Ja‘far, or abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhim…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Whenever food was brought to the Messenger of Allah in which there were dates, he began with dates.’”

“Ali ibn al-Husayn, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, loved to see a man who liked (worked with) dates because of the love of the Messenger for Allah for dates.’”

“Once we visited abu Ja‘far (a.s.), and he (the Imam) asked for dates which we then ate with him (the Imam), but quite a lot of it. The Imam then said that the Messenger of Allah has said, ‘I like a man who is a man of…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The best of your dates is al- Barniy (a certain kind of date) which removes illnesses and there is no illness in it. It takes away fatigue, there is no harm in it, and it dissolves…

“Once I visited abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), and there were barniy dates in front of him. He (the Imam) seemed assiduous in eating it with zest. He (the Imam) said, ‘O Sulayman come close and eat.’ I then went close…

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘ Al-Barniy dates give one delight, and palatability. It is a medicine without illness. It takes away fatigue and with every date there is one good deed.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once said to me, ‘O ‘Ala’, do you know what was the first tree that grew on earth?’ I replied, ‘Allah, His Messenger and the child of His Messenger know best. He (the Imam) said, ‘It was…

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent al-‘Ajwah and al-‘Atiq from the sky.’ I then asked, ‘What is al-‘Atiq ?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is the male.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘al-‘Ajxvah is the mother of dates which Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent for Adam from paradise.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘al-‘Ajwah is the mother of dates. It is the date that Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent from paradise for Adam (a.s.), as mentioned in His words, ‘. . . whatever you cut down of…

“Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), has said, ‘The palm tree of Mary was al-‘Ajwah which was sent in the month of Kanun (one of the months of winter). With Adam al-‘Atiq and al- ‘Ajwah were sent, from these other kinds of…

“Once we took date-stones of al-‘ Ajwah from al-Madinah and a friend of us planted them in a garden. What grew thereof was al-Sukkar, al-Hirun, al-Shahriz and al-Sarfan (names of certain kinds of dates) and all kinds of…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Al-Sarfan is the master of your dates.’”

“When abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), went to al-Hirah, he (the Imam) rode a stumper and with him (the Imam) was a black slave. A man from al-Kufah who had bought a garden of palm trees saw him (the Imam). The man asked the…

“Once dates were mentioned before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and he said, ‘One with you is better than one with us and all which are with us are better than all that are with you.’”

“Once we were with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and Mudayrah (a certain sauce) was brought then food, then a basket of dates of several colors was brought. He (the Imam) then picked up one by one and asked, ‘What do you call…

“I once was with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), when fresh dates were brought. He (the Imam) began to eat, drink water and gave to me the bowl of water and I disliked to decline. Therefore, I drank until he (the Imam) did it…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If one eats seven dates everyday of al-‘Ajwah of al-‘Aliyah (name of a place in al-Madinah), poison, magic and Satan do not harm him.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Eating seven dates of al-‘Ajwah at bed time kill the worms in one’s belly.”’