Why Did Imam Ali (AS) Confide in a Well?

When we look closely at the account of the Well, the truth becomes clear: our master, the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī, peace be upon him, was not confiding his sorrows to the well. He was imparting hadith to it!

A careful reading of the account shows that our master first performed four rakʿahs of prayer. After concluding the prayer and reciting the tasbīḥ, he began his intimate supplication. When he had finished, he designated a space for Maytham and asked him not to cross its bounds—that is, not to go looking for him. But, overcome with concern, Maytham left the space and set out in search of his master. In doing so, he encountered one of the Imam’s hidden mysteries. Yet the Imam disclosed to Maytham only part of the truth about the well; it seems he withheld some of its most important secrets.

Some remarkable points deserve reflection.

The Imam had his head lowered into the well and spoke to it—and the well spoke to him in return. So the Imam was not pouring out his sorrows to the well; he was speaking to it and entrusting it with secrets. The depths of the well may be understood as a domain inhabited by particular beings, a hub for communication with them, and a place where special knowledge and wisdom were planted.

Thus our master ʿAlī, peace be upon him, planted certain secrets in the heart of the well, so they might emerge at their appointed time—like knowledge planted within particular software programs and activated when the time came. Like a transcendent computer, the Imam encoded mysteries in a special language within the well, which functioned like a memory and a software system.

The heart of the well may also have served as a communications hub through which the Imam connected with particular beings on earth or beyond time.

It may also be surmised that the well was not the only means by which the Imam transmitted his secrets and knowledge.

The Imam possessed knowledge meant to be offered to all humanity, but the people of the earth were neither worthy nor eager to receive it.

Indeed, ʿAlī, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, planted secrets, knowledge and wisdom in wells and waters, mountains and plains, stars, molecules in the air, atoms of matter, and elsewhere. When the time comes, he causes them to rain down upon receptive souls like rain, and to flow like a river through pure, thirsting hearts.

The earth is the software of ʿAlī al-Murtaḍā’s knowledge; we must bring it to life. ʿAlī, peace be upon him, inscribed the earth like a book, but in a special language: the language of the Alid mystery.

### The Hadith of the Well

حدثنی میثم رضی الله عنه قال: أصحر بی مولای أمیر المؤمنین علی بن أبی طالب علیه السلام لیله من اللیالی، حتى خرج من الکوفه و انتهى إلى مسجد جعفی، توجه إلى القبله، و صلى أربع رکعات، فلما سلم و سبح بسط کفیه و قال:

Maytham relates: One night, my master, the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, took me out into the open country beyond Kūfa. We came to the Jaʿfī Mosque. He turned towards the qibla and prayed four rakʿahs. When he had concluded the prayer and recited the tasbīḥ, he raised his hands in supplication and said:

إلهی کیف أدعوک و قد عصیتک، و کیف لا أدعوک و قد عرفتک، و حبک فی قلبی مکین، مددت إلیک یدا بالذنوب مملوه، و عینا بالرجاء ممدوده، إلهی أنت مالک العطایا و أنا أسیر الخطایا، و من کرم العظماء الرفق بالأسراء، و أنا أسیر بجرمی مرتهن بعملی.
إلهی ما أضیق الطریق على من لم تکن دلیله، و أوحش المسلک على من لم تکن أنیسه، إلهی لئن طالبتنی بذنوبی لأطالبنک بعفوک، و إن طالبتنی بسریرتی لأطالبنک بکرمک، و إن طالبتنی بشری لأطالبنک بخیرک، و إن جمعت بینی و بین أعدائک فی النار لأخبرنهم أنی کنت لک محبا، و أننی کنت أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله «1» إلهی هذا سروری بک خائفا فکیف سروری بک آمنا، إلهی الطاعه تسرک و المعصیه لا تضرک، فهب لی ما تسرک و اغفر لی ما لا تضرک، فهب لی ما یسرک و اغفر لی ما لا یضرک، و تب علی إنک أنت التواب الرحیم، اللهم صل على محمد و آل محمد و ارحمنی إذا انقطع من الدنیا أثری و امتحى من المخلوقین ذکری و صرت من المنسیین کمن قد نسی. إلهی کبر سنی و دق عظمی و نال الدهر منی، و اقترب أجلی، و نفدت أیامی و ذهبت محاسنی، و مضت شهوتی، و بقیت تبعتی و بلی جسمی، و تقطعت أوصالی، و تفرقت أعضائی و بقیت مرتهنا بعملی.
إلهی أفحمتنی ذنوبی و انقطعت مقالتی، و لا حجه لی، إلهی أنا المقر بذنبی، المعترف بجرمی، الأسیر بإسائتی، المرتهن بعملی، المتهور فی خطیئتی، المتحیر عن قصدی، المنقطع بی، فصل على محمد و آل محمد و تفضل علی و تجاوز عنی.
إلهی إن کان صغر فی جنب طاعتک عملی فقد کبر فی جنب رجائک أملی، إلهی کیف أنقلب بالخیبه من عندک محروما و کل ظنی بجودک أن تقلبنی بالنجاه مرحوما، إلهی لم أسلط على حسن ظنی بک قنوط الآیسین، فلا تبطل صدق رجائی من بین الآملین.
إلهی عظم جرمی إذ کنت المطالب به، و کبر ذنبی إذ کنت المبارز به، إلا أنی إذا ذکرت کبر ذنبی و عظم عفوک و غفرانک، وجدت الحاصل بینهما لی أقربهما لی رحمتک و رضوانک، إلهی إن دعانی إلى النار مخشی عقابک فقد نادانی إلى الجنه بالرجاء حسن ثوابک.
إلهی إن أوحشتنی الخطایا عن محاسن لطفک فقد أنستنی بالیقین مکارم عفوک، إلهی إن أنامتنی الغفله عن الاستعداد للقائک فقد أنبهتنی المعرفه یا سیدی بکرم آلائک، إلهی إن عزب «1» لبی عن تقویم ما یصلحنی فما عزب إیقانی بنظرک إلی فیما ینفعنی.
إلهی إن انقرضت بغیر ما أحببت من السعی أیامی فبالإیمان أمضیت السالفات من أعوامی، إلهی جئتک ملهوفا و قد ألبست عدم فاقتی و أقامنی مع الأذلاء بین یدیک ضر حاجتی، إلهی کرمت فأکرمنی إذ کنت من سؤالک، و جدت بالمعروف فاخلطنی بأهل نوالک.
My God, I have come this morning to the door of one of Your gifts, asking for it, and have turned away from seeking anything from anyone but You. It is not Your way to turn away a distressed petitioner in desperate need, one who awaits from You the good that is Your wont to bestow.

My God, I stand upon the bridge of perils, tested by deeds and trials. Unless You help me bear their burdens and bonds, My God, did You create me among the wretched, that I might weep without end? Or among the blessed, that I might rejoice in hope?

My God, if You deny me the sight of Muhammad صلى الله علیه و آله, and turn my hopes from fulfillment in that place, my soul has set its hopes on something else, O Lord of majesty and generosity, of bounty and grace.

My God, had You not guided me to Islam, I would not have found the way; had You not granted me faith in You, I would not have believed; had You not loosed my tongue to call upon You, I would not have prayed; had You not made me know the sweetness of knowing You, I would not have known You. My God, though my failure to keep pace with the righteous has left me behind, my trust in You has set me upon the paths of the virtuous.

My God, how can You subject to the fire of Hell a heart You have filled with love for You in this worldly life? My God, every afflicted soul seeks refuge in You, and every deprived soul places its hope in You.

My God, the worshippers heard of Your abundant reward and bowed in reverence; those who had strayed from the right course heard of Your generosity and returned; sinners heard of the vastness of Your mercy and found solace in it; wrongdoers heard of the nobility of Your forgiveness and dared to hope. So throngs of Your disobedient servants gathered, each crying out to You in the lands You have made, their pleas rising like the cries of the distressed. Each has a hope that leads them to You, and a need to be met.

You are the One to whom all make their petitions, before whom the faces of those who ask are never shamed. Bless Muhammad, Your Prophet, and his family, and deal with me as befits You. Truly, You hear every prayer.

He lowered his voice in prayer, prostrated himself, pressed his face into the dust and said a hundred times:

«العفو العفو»

Then he rose and left the mosque. I followed him until we reached the desert. He drew a line in front of me and said, “Take care not to cross this line.” Then he went on without me. It was a pitch-dark night. I said to myself: “Why have I left my master alone? He has many enemies. If anything happens, what excuse will I have before God and His Messenger? Though I would be disobeying his command, I must follow him and find out what is happening.”

I followed his tracks until I found him leaning halfway over a well, speaking to it—and the well speaking to him. He sensed my presence, turned and asked, “Who is it?”

“Maytham,” I replied.

“Maytham, did I not tell you not to cross the line?”

“Yes, my master. But I feared for your safety, given your many enemies, and my heart could not bear to leave you.”

“Did you hear any of what I said?” he asked.

“No, my master,” I replied.

Then he recited these lines to me:

«و فی الصدر لبانات إذا ضاق لها صدری‏
نکت الأرض بالکف و أبدیت لها سری‏
فمهما تنبت الأرض فذاک النبت من بذری .»

“My breast holds longings; when it grows too narrow to contain them,
I scratch the earth with my hand and share my secret with it.
Whatever the earth brings forth is a plant grown from my seed.”

Al-Mazār al-Kabīr (by Ibn al-Mashhadī), p. 149