Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) said: “Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) was the most devout, pious, and superior person of his time. When he went from Medina to Mecca for Hajj, he would walk, sometimes barefoot. Whenever he remembered death, he would cry. (He) would weep when thinking of the Day of Resurrection, crossing the Sirat bridge, and standing before the Divine Court. Sometimes, he would be so overcome with emotion that he would groan and faint. When Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) stood up for prayer, his body would tremble before God, and when he thought of Paradise, he would become anxious and say: “O God! I seek Paradise from Your door, and I take refuge in You from the fire of Hell.”
When reciting the Qur’an, whenever he reached the verse “O you who have believed” [1], he would humbly respond to God’s call and say: “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik” (Here I am, O God, here I am, with all my being, I answer You!).
He remembered God at all times; he had an eloquent, clear, and impactful speech, and his sermons would captivate the listeners profoundly[2].”
Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) would wear his finest clothes for prayer. One person asked, “O son of the Messenger of God! Why do you wear your best clothes during prayer?” He replied, “God is beautiful and loves beauty. In the Qur’an, it says: ‘Take your adornment at every masjid’ [3]. Therefore, I like to wear my finest clothes when praying.”[4]
However, despite his piety, Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) was also well-dressed, neat, and dignified. One day, he passed through the streets of Medina riding a beautiful mule with a particular grandeur and radiance, on his way outside the city. On the way, a Jewish man saw him and approached, saying: “I have a question.”
The Imam said, “Ask!”
The Jewish man said: “Your grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), said: ‘The world is the prison of the believer and the Paradise of the disbeliever.’ But now, I compare your situation with mine, and I see you in comfort, while I am in hardship!”
Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) replied: “This is a mistaken belief that a believer must be deprived of everything. (Your comparison is wrong; instead, compare like this) If you compare the esteemed status of the believer in Paradise with the believer’s situation in this world, and compare the lowly status of the disbeliever in Hell with the disbeliever’s condition in this world, you will understand that the world of the believer, in relation to the Hereafter, is like a prison, and the world of the disbeliever, in relation to the Hereafter, is like Paradise[5].”
(Excerpted from the book A Glance at the Life of Imam Hasan (peace be upon him), authored by Hujjat al-Islam Muhammad Mohammadi Eshtahardi)
Footnotes:
[1] This phrase appears in the Qur’an more than forty times.
[2] Amali of Shaykh Saduq, Pages 178-179
[3] (Surah Al-A’raf, verse 131)
[4] Tafsir al-Ayashi, Volume 2, Page 14
[5] Quoted from the book Al-Fusul al-Muhimmah, Page 138