KindFather

The eighth infallible Imam, Imam Reza (PBUH), in explanation of the exalted position of Infallible Imams has said:

“Infallible Imam is the companion and friend, the kind father, the beneficent mother to her small child, the equal brother ...”

(Osool Kaafi)

A kindfather constantly cares for his child, kindly provides for him, never forgets him, wisely guides him, patiently teaches him and ... . A beneficent mother compassionately feeds her child patiently takes his hand and walks with him, whole heartedly loves him, benevolently advises him ... . A twin and equal brother kindly worries for his brother, truly becomes sad when he is sad and turns happy when he is happy and ... . A companion patiently listens to his friend, truly laughs and cries when his friend laughs and cries ... .

The Infallible Imam of this time is Imam Mahdi (PBUH). The warm love and benevolence of a father or a mother or a brother or a sincere friend is only a limited manifestation of Imam's love and benevolence. Imam reflects God's Light, just like a perfect mirror. No other human being has the capacity of loving us more than Imam does. His love is a heavenly, pure and benevolent love; he benevolently knows how important it is for us to learn, grow and become as perfect as we can. Although he becomes sad when we are sad but he wisely expects us to realize that things we want may not always be good for us, on the contrary, they may turn out to be quite harmful. Imagine a child standing next to a burning fire. To that child, the fire looks warm, attractive and colorful, so he gets closer and closer and he is about to touch the fire. Surely, a kindfather or a loving mother does not let that child to touch the fire even if the child cries or becomes sad or angry. Benevolence is the root of true kindness and beneficence; benevolence does not always mean giving, it sometimes means taking away. The same way that the child does not understand why he is kept away from what he wants, sometime we may not understand everything too. But if we trust our kindfather then we can find peace and keep on trying …

When a loving father and mother watch their child making a big mistake, tears appear in mother's eyes and anger in father's. Behind the anger and tears lies the warmest and most gentle kindness. When the child realizes that he has made a mistake and wishes to return, instantly the anger and tears fly away from the father's and mother's eyes and they welcome their child with open arms. Every time we commit a sin, signs of anger appear in the tearful eyes of our beloved Imam, his heart breaks and he prays for our salvation. But when we realize that we have made a mistake and -with true and pure intentions- we repent, then anger disappears from our Imam's eyes as if it was never there and tears of happiness replace those of sadness.

O God! We can never thank you enough for bestowing upon us the Guardianship of your most beloved and beautiful creations, those who are closest to you. We know that Mahdi is the last of them, forgive us that we are ungrateful servants but you are our forgiving Lord.

O our loving Lord! Hasten the beautiful Appearance of our kindfather, Imam Mahdi (PBUH) so that the entire world may realize his Pure love …