The Holy Prophet (phuh&hp) is reported to have said, “Al-Mahdi is from my children, his name is [like] my name, his agnomen is [like] my agnomen. He is the most similar to me in my appearance and my character.”
Imam al-Baqir (p) is also reported to have narrated from his father as saying that Imam Ali (p) once said on the pulpit, “From my progeny at the end of time, a man will appear, whose face is reddish-white, whose chest is broad, with strong shoulders and two moles on his back: one with the color of his skin and the other like that of the Prophet.”
While different reports suggest that the mother of the Imam, Lady Narjis, is either a Roman prisoner or a north African bondswoman, stronger reports suggest the latter. It is reported to have been narrated by Yazeed al-Kunaasee who said, “I heard Abaa Jafar Muhammad (p), he said: ‘Verily, the master of this affair in him is the resemblance of Yusuf (p), he is the son of a black bondswoman, and God will reform his affair in one night.”’
