The Merits of the Euphrates River, Drinking from Its Water, and Performing Ghusl in It

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: If the water of the Euphrates River is used to open the mouth of a (newborn baby) and is his first drink, he will be among those who love us, the Ahlul Bayt.

Abū Ja’far (Imam Bāqir (a.s.)) said: If the distance between us and the Euphrates (River) was this much – and he mentioned a distance – we would go to it to seek cure with its water.

I heard Abā ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) say, “I do not foresee any (newborn baby) whose mouth is opened with water from the Euphrates River to be anything other than from among those who love us, the Ahlul Bayt.” Then he (the Imam (a.s.)) asked me, “What is the distance between you and the Euphrates River?” I answered the Imam (a.s.) and then he said, “If I was next to it, I would love to go to it at the two ends of every day.”

‘Ali ibn Ḥusain (Imam Sajjād (a.s.)) said: Every night an angel comes down and drops three particles of musk from the musk of Paradise in the Euphrates River. There is no river more blessed than the Euphrates (River) anywhere in the east or the west.

When Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) came to Kūfah during the time of Abil ‘Abbās, he was on his mount and was wearing his traveling attire. He stopped on the bridge of Kūfah and asked his servant to give him some water. So the servant took a jug and filled it (from the Euphrates River) and gave it to the Imam (a.s.). The Imam (a.s.) started drinking, and (as he was drinking) the water spilled from the two corners of his mouth onto his beard and onto his clothes. Then the Imam (a.s.) asked for some more water. The servant refilled the jug and gave it to the Imam (a.s.). After the Imam (a.s.) drank the water, he praised Allāh and said: What a blessed river this river is! Verily every day seven drops of water fall from Paradise into it. If people knew of the blessings of this river, they would build their tents on its shores. Verily if it was not for that which enters this river from the sinners, no ill person would submerge himself in it without being cured.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: I do not foresee any (newborn baby) whose mouth is opened with water from the Euphrates River to be anything other than from among our Shia. The above Ḥadīth has also been narrated to me through the following chain: My father, from Sa’d ibn ‘Abdillāh, from Ibrāhīm ibn Mahziyār, from his brother ‘Ali ibn Mahziyār, from Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥamzah, from someone whose name he mentioned, from Abī ‘Abdillāh (a.s.).

‘Ali ibn Ḥusain (Imam Sajjād (a.s.)) said: Every night, Allāh sends down an angel who has three particles of musk from the musk of Paradise with him and he drops them in the Euphrates River (which is close to you). There is no river more blessed than the Euphrates (River) anywhere in the earth, from the east to the west.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: I do not foresee any (newborn baby) whose mouth is opened with the water of the Euphrates River to be anything other than from among those who love us, the Ahlul Bayt.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) mentioned the Euphrates (River) and said: Verily it (the Euphrates River) is from among the Shia of ‘Ali (a.s.). No one’s mouth is opened with it without him loving us, the Ahlul Bayt.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: If the water of the Euphrates (River) is the first thing that is given to a newborn baby and if the baby drinks it, he will be among those who love us because the Euphrates River is a believer.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: There are two believing rivers and two disbelieving rivers. The two disbelieving rivers are the Balkh River and the Tigris River, and the two believing rivers are the Nile River and the Euphrates River. Therefore, open the mouth of your children with water from the Euphrates (River).