Question on saintly miracles and mysticism

Are there any Imams who experienced saintly miracles (karāmāt)? If so are there any books in English I could read on it? And is Mysticism forbidden or discouraged in Zaydism? Also can non-descendants of the Prophet's progeny (peace and blessings be upon them all) experience these saintly miracles as well?

as-salamu alaikum,

refer to this thread too:
salvationark.com/salvationark1/index.php...-the-zaydi-tradition

What do you mean with mysticism exactly?
--Living while focusing on Ibadah and Zuhd?
Or:
--Adhering to a Tariqa, Shaykh and a Minhaj for tazkiyya?
Or:
--Adhering to the theology/philosophy of Ibn Arabi and the sufis who follow him?

wa salam

Wa Alaikum Assalam

By mysticism I mean experiencing a direct personal union with Allah internally, with the soul, by purifying the heart and with dhikr. Is there a way to do this without bidah? Any established Zaydi methods or books on it in English?

as-salamu alaikum,

akhil kareem,

a personal union with Allah is impossible and that concept is actually foreign to Islam.

While it has been discussed in early islamic times it was never counted as a direct "desired status" which you should achieve.
The scholars which focused on Tazkiya/Personal Religious Development, called this state al-Wajh and clearly stated that it was an byproduct
of the path of the seeker. It happens without their will and is not regarded as anything "desireable", later in the middle ages it got sometimes pushed and promoted as something good but originally, no, it was (and is) a form of loosing oneself and thus weakness. In essence it is loosing oneself and believing oneself to be part of Allah or in union with him, but that is an state of delirious mental breakdown, not something positive.

No one can achieve a personal Union with Allah, in the sense that you somehow merge your essence with him.

If you mean by personal union "becoming the embodiement of the will of Allah" than that would be in accordance with Islam.

About purifiying the heart: 
If you want to do that without bidaa you would have to look in the books of fiqh, in the chapters of ibadaah.
As for books:
There are many zaydi books on tazkiya/zuhd but unfortunately most of them are in arabic, i do not know of any english translations
The books of our school are in contrast to the sufi books much more sober.

Some of them:“The Policy of the Disciples,” by Imam al-Mu’ayyad Billāh Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hārūnī (d. 411 AH)“The Life of Hearts in Reviving the Worship of the Knower of the Unseen,” by Imam Ahmad ibn Yahyā al-Murtaḍā (d. 840 AH)“The Fountain of Happiness,” by ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAjrī (d. 1407 AH)

“Guidance to the Salvation of the Servants,” by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd al-ʿAnsī (d. 667 AH)

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This is an excerpt from the fountain of happiness:

Among them was the jurist of the family of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and upon them — ʿĪsā ibn Zayd ibn ʿAlī alayhi as-salam:He was called al-Mukhtafī (“the Hidden One”) because he remained in concealment for a long period. It is related that during his concealment, he used to draw water with the water-carriers using his camel, and they did not recognize him. He was extremely pious and scrupulous.It is narrated in the books of Abū al-Faraj with a chain of transmission to ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar, who said:
“My father told me that he once entered upon ʿĪsā ibn Zayd while he was eating bread and cucumbers. He offered me two loaves of bread and two cucumbers and said to me: ‘Eat.’ So I ate one loaf and half of the other with one and a half cucumbers until I was full and left the rest.After a few days, I came back to him, and he brought out the leftover piece of bread and half of the cucumber, which had become stale, and said to me: ‘Eat.’
I said: ‘What is this that you have kept for me?’
He replied: ‘Because I had given it to you as a gift, it became your property. You ate part of it and left part of it so eat it now if you wish, or give it away in charity.’
Such scrupulousness (waraʿ) is not found in anyone else. May Allah benefit us through him and his forefathers.”And from Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Zayd, who said:
“I said to my father: ‘I wish to see my uncle ʿĪsā.’
He replied: ‘That would cause him hardship, and I fear he might move from his place lest he be discovered. But when you reach Kūfa, ask about the houses of Banū Ḥayy, and sit at the beginning of such-and-such a street, for he will come to you at sunset a middle-aged man described such and such, with the mark of prostration on his forehead, drawing water on a camel. He does not place a foot nor lift it except that he remembers Allah, exalted be He.When you greet him, he will be alarmed by you, so tell him who you are, perhaps his heart will be at ease.’So I did as he said. When I greeted him, he was startled, as wild animals are startled by humans. I said: ‘Uncle, I am your nephew.’ He embraced me and wept until I feared his soul would depart. Then he made his camel kneel and began asking me about each of his family members man by man, woman by woman, and child by child and I answered him while he wept.Then he said: ‘My son, I draw water with this camel. I give the camel’s hire to its owner and live off the rest.’In another narration he said: ‘Sometimes I am hindered from drawing water, so I go out into the open land at night, behind Kūfa, and gather the herbs that people throw away and live off them.’Then he made me swear never to return to him, bid me farewell, and he passed away while in concealment.May Allahs’s blessings, peace, and honor be upon him. Āmīn.”

Wa salam