Note 576 — Chapter VI

According to the Shiâhs, Mahdi made two retreats or eclipses, the great and the minor. The minor was that, during which he now and then gave news of himself, and decided all the questions which the Muselmans proposed, by means of certain messengers who carried them to him very secretly, succeeding each other without knowing each other. This intercourse lasted until the year of the Hejira 326, A. D. 937, in which year one of these messengers, called Alí, died, after having brought a letter from Mahdi, by which this Imám announced to him that he (Alí) would die in six days, and forbade him to leave the commission of visiting him to any other person. It is from this time that begins “the great retreat or absence” of Mahdi: for, after the death of this Alí, no information was received concerning the Mahdi, if not by revelation. This statement, found in Herbelot, is confirmed by that above.