The First Certificate that was Written on Earth

“When abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), went to meet abu al- ‘Abbas who was in al-Hirah (a place in Iraq), one day he came out for ‘Isa ibn Musa. They came face to face between al-Hirah and al-Kufah when ibn Shubramah, the judge, was also with him and he asked, ‘Where do you want to go, O abu ‘Abd Allah ? 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘I wanted to meet you . 5 He then said, ‘Allah has shortened the distance of the journey for you because we are here . 5 He (the Imam) then went along with him. Ibn Shubramah asked, ‘What do you say, O abu ‘Abd Allah, concerning something about which the Amir (the ruler) asked me but I had nothing about it ? 5 He (the Imam) asked, ‘What is it ? 5 He said, ‘He asked me about the first document that was written on earth . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, showed to Adam (a.s.), his offspring before his eyes in the form of particles, one Prophet after the other Prophet, king after king, believers after believers and unbelievers after unbelievers. When he reached Dawud ‘Alayhi al-Salam, he asked, “Who is this one whom You have granted Prophet-hood and honor but his life is very short ? 55 He (the Imam) said that Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent him revelation that said, “This is your son Dawud and his life is for forty years, I have written the duration of lives, distributed sustenance and I can delete or write down whatever I want, as I want, because the mother of the book is with Me. If you want to donate something from your life to him, you can do so and I implement it.” He then said, “O Lord, I donate sixty years of my life to him so that he will live for one hundred years.” Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, said to Jibril, Michael and the angel of death to write down a document about it because he will forget. He (the Imam) said that they wrote the document for it and sealed it with their wings which were from the Tinah (seed) of the ones high above . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘When it was the time for the death of Adam (a.s.), the angel of death came to him and Adam (a.s.), asked, “O angel of death, what brings you here?” The angel of death said, “I have come to take your soul.” He said, “I have another sixty years to live.” The angel said, “That much you donated to your son Dawud .” 5 He (the Imam) said that Jibril then came and showed him the document. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘For that reason when a certificate is brought out to show the indebted he is humbled. Then he took away his soul. 5 ”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that when Adam (a.s.), was shown his offspring, he looked at Dawud, he liked him and donated fifty years of his life to him. He (the Imam) said that Jibril and Michael came to him and the angel of death wrote a document about fifty years of his life being donated. When the time of his death came the angel of death came and Adam (a.s.), said that fifty years of his life still has remained, and he said, ‘What about fifty years that you donated to your son Dawud ? 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘It was because that he had forgotten or denied it. Jibril and Michael came and testified about the matter, then the angel of death took away his soul . 5 Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It was the first check (certificate or deed) that was ever written on earth. 5 ”