 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 40 is the world's largest annual gathering and it's truly a demonstration of love generosity commitment and determination towards the brilliant mission and the movement of the grandson of the Holy Prophet حسين ابنى علي صلوات الله وسلامه عليه but what does the number 40 signify? why 40? why 40? of course if you look at the number 40 in the Holy Quran you recognize that it has a special significance for example in chapter 2 verse number 51 الله سبحانه وتعالى says وإذ وعدنا موسى الربعين ليلة that Moussa the great prophet of God peace and blessings be upon him went towards the mount of Sinai for 40 nights to receive the communication from the Almighty سبحانه وتعالى similarly in chapter 46 verse 15 of the Holy Quran الله سبحانه وتعالى says ووصينا الإنسان بواليده حسنة حملته أمه كرها ووضعته كرها وحمله وفصاله ثلاثون شهره حتى إذا بلغ أشده وبلغ أربعين سنة القرآن says that the age of maturity for the human being is 40 and similarly in chapter 5 verse 26 الله سبحانه وتعالى رساله وخبره الناس عن بني إسرائيل that they had to travel throughout deserts and throughout lands for 40 years now of course if you look at the narrations from the Holy Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt عليهم السلام you'll find also some significance paid towards the number 40 رسول الله محمد صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم in Al-Kafi volume 1 page 49 says Whomsoever from my umma memorizes 40 hadiths which they will benefit from will be resurrected by Allah on the day of Qiyamah as a knowledgeable scholar similarly the Prophet of Islam had mentioned that in a hadith that if a person reaches the age of 40 and does not seek repentance توبة شيطان will wipe over their face and hands and says surely a face that will not succeed إمام جعفر ابن محمد صادق صلى الله عليه وسلم عليه وسائل الشيعة volume 7 page 103 says if 40 people gather together and supplicate to Allah for the fulfillment of deeds then Allah سبحانه وتعالى will respond to them إمام الصادق عليه السلام also says that when a believer dies 40 believers should gather together and attend the funeral and say اللهم إنا لا نعلم منه إلا خيرا أو الله نحن لا نعلم أي شيء about this individual except good and then he says upon this Allah will reply I have accepted your witnessing and have indeed forgiven him for that which I know and you do not know narrations tell us from the أهل البيت عليه السلام that sprinkling the grave with water for 40 days is indeed highly recommended it's a hadith from وسائل الشيعة volume 2 from إمام الرضا عليه السلام sincerity for 40 days is a sign that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has placed wisdom in the heart of the believer according to the narration of إمام البقر عليه السلام in بحار الأنوار that whomsoever displays إخلاص for 40 days الله سبحانه وتعالى will place wisdom in their hearts and make it ooze from their tongues and so we have these narrations regarding the number 40 but specifically when it comes to إمام الحسين and peace and blessings be upon him there are a number of interesting narrations that point to the significance of number 40 and سيد الشهداء one of them is found for example in the works of ابن كثير و ابن كثير البداية والنهاية which says that water at one stage was running over the grave of إمام الحسين عليه السلام to the extent that the grave was concealed but after 40 days the water dried and a Bedouin from Bani Assad came to the grave thereafter took part of the soil began to weep and said may my mother and father be sacrificed for you how pure you are and how your soil is fragranced إمام جعفر بن محمد للصادق صلى الله عليه وسلم in a narration in the book Kamil Al-Ziarat says that he addresses Zorara and says the heavens wept for Imam Al-Hussein for 40 days the earth wept for 40 days in darkness the sun wept for 40 days through an eclipse the mountains crumbled and exploded the angels cried for 40 days of Imam Al-Hussein عليه السلام but of course the famous narration from Imam Al-Hasan Al-Askari peace and blessings be upon him which is found in numerous books including بحار الأنوار identifies five essential qualities characteristics of a believer these signs are indicative of the individual who is considered a mu'min and of course Imam Al-Askari عليه السلام says the signs of the believer are five one of them is الجهر ب بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم to recite the Bismillah loudly the other is to have a ring on the right hand the third is prostration on the soil the fourth is to recite 51 ركعات ديلي and of course the fifth is زيارة الاربعين the Ziyara of the 40th of Imam Al-Hussein peace and blessings be upon him and therefore number 40 occupies a very important position there is a secret behind number 40 today the millions who walk from different cities around Iraq towards the city of Mattis Karbala is an indication of the divine blessings and the divine support for this important شعيرة this sign of الله سبحانه وتعالى there is a wonderful symbol for mankind to learn and to benefit and to indeed participate and see the excellence of