It is narrated that from the Bani Abbas Caliphs either Mutawakkil or Wathiq ordered the ninety-thousand-strong army of Turks posted in Samarra that on so and so day they must fill the horse-feed nose bag with red sand and drop it at so and so place.
All the soldiers acted on this command and a huge mountain of soil accumulated there and it became to be known as Tillul Makhali (mound of horse feed nose bag).
When that artificial hillock was ready, the Caliph took along Imam Ali Naqi (a) and scaled that hill and after reaching the top said,
“I called you here so that you may know what a huge army I have and how extensive are our weapons. What a great awe do I possess!”
His aim was to display his power so that if anyone is thinking of staging an uprising against him, he should how powerful the Caliph’s force is. In addition to others the Caliph was afraid of Imam Ali Naqi (a) as well lest the Imam takes support of one of his relative and stages an armed uprising.
Imam Ali Naqi (a) said,
“Now that you have displayed your forces, should I not also exhibit my power and glory to you?”
“Why not?” he said.
The Imam lifted his hands in supplication and then told him, “Look at my forces.”
When the Caliph looked up he saw multitudes of angels from the Earth to the sky and from the East to the West, and all of them were armed.
The Caliph swooned upon seeing the divine forces of the Imam and when he revived, the Imam said,
“Be strong in the heart; the dispute between you and me is not regarding this world; because we don’t need your world. And we are always focused on embellishing the hereafter. I don’t face any threat from you.”
Ath-Thaqib fil Manaqib, Pg. 557; Al-Kharaij, Vol. 1, Pg. 414, Miracles of Ahlulbayt (a.s. ) - Vol. 4,Pg.157
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