--- title: "The Closing of the Gates" event: "The Lantern of the Path" session_number: 52 published_at: "2026-01-14" canonical_url: "https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-closing-of-the-gates" event_url: "https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-lantern-of-the-path" type: "event-session" scripture_reference: "Mafatih al-Jinan, Supplications (Duas), Dua Samat, Line 11" --- # The Closing of the Gates *Session 52 of [The Lantern of the Path](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-lantern-of-the-path) — 14 January 2026* Mahdawiyyah, Part 8 · The Four Deputies, Part 4 of 4 The last of the Four Deputies was handed a letter naming the exact week he would die — and told, in the same breath, never to appoint anyone after him. Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri did not come from the merchant network of the first two deputies, nor the aristocratic world of the third. His family were khuddam — servants who had managed the Imams' estates for generations, men whose names survive in the margins of the sources rather than their headlines. His tenure lasted only three years, from 326 to 329 AH, and he built nothing new. His task was to end something. Six days before his death, he gathered the community's elders and read them the final letter from the Imam of our Age, may God hasten his return: he would die within the week; he was to settle his affairs; and no one was to succeed him, because the age of a single named channel to the Imam had closed. The letter went further, pronouncing a verdict on every future claimant to that same channel — a standing judgement, issued centuries in advance, on anyone who would later claim direct, exclusive contact with the Imam before the signs that mark the true end of the waiting. With that letter, the door of specific deputyship shut, and the era of general scholarly authority began. Why would the last deputy's most important act be dismantling the very office he held? What the evening covers The unknown soldier. Why the man chosen to close the gates came from a family of servants, not scholars or courtiers. The final letter. The six days' notice, and the instruction never to name a successor. The verdict in advance. How a single sentence in that letter answers every future claim of exclusive access to the Imam. Scaffolding and building. Why a structure meant to last had to have its supports removed. ## Scripture > وَ بَارَكْتَ لِحَبِيبِكَ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ فِي عِتْرَتِهِ وَ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ وَ [فِي ] أُمَّتِهِ اللَّهُمَّ وَ كَمَا غِبْنَا عَنْ ذَلِكَ وَ لَمْ نَشْهَدْهُ وَ آمَنَّا بِهِ وَ لَمْ نَرَهُ صِدْقاً وَ عَدْلاً أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ أَنْ تُبَارِكَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ تَرَحَّمَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَأَفْضَلِ مَا صَلَّيْتَ وَ بَارَكْتَ وَ تَرَحَّمْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَ آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ فَعَّالٌ لِمَا تُرِيدُ وَ أَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْ ءٍ قَدِيرٌ [شَهِيدٌ] > > And You blessed Your beloved Muhammad (peace of Allah be upon him and his family) in his progeny, his descendants, and his nation. O Allah! And just as we were far from those events and did not witness those occurrences, yet we believed in them though we did not see them—a belief of sincerity and truthfulness—I beseech You to send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and to bestow benedictions upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and to shower abundant mercy upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as the finest blessings, benedictions, and mercy that You sent upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. You are the Praised, the Exalted; You do whatever You will, and You have power over all things. — *Mafatih al-Jinan, Supplications (Duas), Dua Samat, Line 11* ## Programme - [Watch the full session](https://youtu.be/FyjRvFGDOWs) - [Sermon: The Closing of the Gates](https://youtu.be/FyjRvFGDOWs) - [Nohe: The Door of Wishes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u04h7GfLYo) - [Ziyarah: Ziyarat Aal-e-Yasin](https://youtu.be/uSJNHMq3oYs?si=PKBRrMLLZOtXX_Hq) ## Other sessions in this event - [Session 69 — Shaykh al-Ta'ifa](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/shaykh-al-taifa) — 12 August 2026 - [Session 26 — Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba: A Life of Strategic Sacrifice](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/imam-hasan-al-mujtaba-a-life-of-strategic-sacrifice) — 20 May 2026 - [Session 56 — The Shield in Action](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-shield-in-action) — 11 February 2026 - [Session 55 — Forging the Shield](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/forging-the-shield) — 4 February 2026 - [Session 54 — The False Dawn](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-false-dawn) — 28 January 2026 - [Session 53 — The Great Sifting and the Crisis of the Void](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-great-sifting-and-the-crisis-of-the-void) — 21 January 2026 - [Session 51 — The Diplomat in the Lion's Den](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-diplomat-in-the-lions-den) — 7 January 2026 - [Session 50 — The Institution Builder](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-institution-builder) — 31 December 2025 - [Session 49 — The Trusted Confidant](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-trusted-confidant) — 24 December 2025 - [Session 48 — The Divine Strategy of Absence](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-divine-strategy-of-absence) — 17 December 2025 - [Session 47 — The Blueprint of the Divine State](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-blueprint-of-the-divine-state) — 10 December 2025 - [Session 3 — Keeping God's Limits](https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/keeping-gods-limits) — 10 December 2025 --- _Read this session on the web: https://www.truthpromoters.com/events/the-closing-of-the-gates_