سورة الحجر

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Asbat Bayya' al-Zutti said: I was with Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) when a man asked him about the verse: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ* وَ إِنَّها لَبِسَبیلٍ مُقیمٍ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine, and indeed it is on an established road]. He said: "We are the mutawassimun (those who examine), and the straight path is our path."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) that concerning the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine] he said: "They are the Imams."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Ma'ruf ibn Kharrabudh said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said concerning the verse إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]: what is meant by al-mutawassimin is us.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Muhammad Baqir (peace be upon him) narrated from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) that he said concerning the word of the Exalted Truth [إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ — Surely in this are signs for those who examine]: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was the mutawassim (the discerning one), and after him I and the Imams of my household are the mutawassimun (the discerning ones)."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali (peace be upon him)! I am the warner of my ummah and you are its guide, and Hasan (peace be upon him) is its leader, and Husayn (peace be upon him) is its driver, and Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) is its gatherer, and Muhammad ibn Ali (peace be upon him) is its knower, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him) is its scribe, and Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) is the reckoner of its friends and enemies, and Ali ibn Musa (peace be upon him) is its conveyor and deliverer, the pursuer of those who bear malice towards it and the one who brings its believers near, and Muhammad ibn Ali (peace be upon him) is its leader and driver, and Ali ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the one who moves it forward and its scholar, and Hasan ibn Ali (peace be upon him) is its lamenter and bestower, and the successor, al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief), is the one who takes it forward and brings it to its goal and its witness; إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sulayman said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Has Allah granted you the same authority He granted to Sulayman (peace be upon him)?" He said: "Yes, and one instance of it is this: a person asked him a question and received an answer. Another asked the same question and received a different answer, and a third person asked the same question and received an answer different from the first two; then he said: this is Our gift, without reckoning — bestow it or withhold it as you wish. (Sad/39)" I asked: "May Allah grant you well-being! When the Imam answers them, does he recognize them?" He said: "Subhan Allah! Have you not heard that Allah in His Book has said: إِنَّ فِی ذَلِکَ لآیَاتٍ لِّلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]?! The mutawassimin (those who examine) are the pure Imams, [and He says]: وَ إِنَّهَا لَبِسَبِیلٍ مُّقیمٍ [And indeed it is on an established path] — the true path is their path, and they never deviate from it."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Muhammad Baqir (peace be upon him): While Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) was in the mosque of Kufa, a woman came and sought help against her husband. Ali (peace be upon him) in his judgement ruled in favor of her husband, and the woman became angry and said: "By Allah, your judgement was not just and equitable...". Amr ibn Hurayth saw her and said: "O maidservant of Allah! You spoke words to Ali (peace be upon him) that pleased me..." She said: "By Allah! Ali (peace be upon him) informed me of the truth and of what I have concealed from my husband since I was married to him, and also from my father and mother." Amr returned to Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him)... and among his words he said: "We do not know you to practice divination." He said to him: "O Amr, woe to you! This is not divination; rather Allah created the souls two thousand years before the bodies, and when He placed the souls in the bodies He wrote between their foreheads: believer or disbeliever, what they will be afflicted with, and what good and evil deeds — even to the extent of a mouse's ear — they will perform. So He revealed the Qur'an to His Prophet and said: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine], and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was the discerning one, and then after him I, and the Imams (peace be upon them) who are from my descendants, are the discerning ones. When I looked closely, I understood her inner state from her countenance."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Kathir said: I performed the Hajj together with Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) ... Dawud al-Raqqi said to him: 'May I be your ransom! Do you [Imams] recognise your friends and your enemies?' He said: 'O Aba Sulayman! Every servant who is born has written upon his forehead: believer or unbeliever. A person comes to us claiming our wilayah (guardianship) and disavowal of our enemies, and on his forehead it is written: he is a believer or an unbeliever. Allah says in this verse: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]; we distinguish friend from enemy.'

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu Bakr al-Hadrami narrates from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Upon the forehead of every human being it is written: he is a believer or an unbeliever. This matter is hidden from your sight, but the Imams from the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) see it. Whoever comes to them, they recognise whether he is a believer or an unbeliever. Then he recited this verse: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]. The Imams are the mutawassimin (those who examine).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: 'In the Imam there are signs لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [for those who examine], and he is the firm path who sees by the light of Allah and speaks on behalf of Allah; nothing that he wishes [to know] is hidden from him.'

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Salman (may Allah have mercy on him) said: ... When I saw the confusion, humiliation, contempt, distress of the people and the calamity that had befallen the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), I got up, not knowing where to place my foot, and came to the house of Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him). I knocked on the door, the Imam came out and said: "O Salman! What has happened to you?" ... I said: "A group of a hundred men of the nobles of Rome, led by their Jathaliq (chief bishop), have come ... O Amir al-Muminin, come to the aid of the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)!" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "O Christian, come near me and ask me your questions, for the answer to what people need — what they should do and what they should leave — is with me, and success is only from Allah." The Jathaliq said: "Then inform me of my place in Hell and your place in Paradise." His Eminence said: "I have not entered it that I should know my place in Paradise and your place in Hell; but I will make you acquainted with that through the Quran. Allah the Exalted sent Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) with truth and sent down to him a Book: 'that no falsehood approaches, neither from before it nor from behind it, a revelation from the Wise, the Praiseworthy!' (Fussilat/42). In this Book Allah made all His knowledge firm and secure, and informed the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) of the degrees and stations of Paradise, and divided Paradise among His creatures according to their reward and recompense, and made Paradise obligatory for them according to the measure of their good deeds and their faith. So we (the Ahl al-Bayt) affirmed Allah, and became acquainted with the stations of the righteous and the stations of the corrupt and the punishment He has prepared for them in the Fire of Hell. And Allah said: لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ لِّکُلِّ بَابٍ مِّنْهُمْ جُزْءٌ مَّقْسُومٌ [It has seven gates; for every gate there is an assigned portion of them]. And whoever remains upon his disbelief, transgression, polytheism, hypocrisy and oppression, and dies in this state, is the object of this verse of Allah: لِّکُلِّ بَابٍ مِّنْهُمْ جُزْءٌ مَّقْسُومٌ [for every gate there is an assigned portion of them]. Allah the Exalted says: إِنَّ فِی ذَلِکَ لآیَاتٍ لِّلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in that are signs for the mutawassimin (those who examine)]. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was himself one of the discerning, and I and the Imams from my progeny, until the Day of Resurrection, are of the discerning."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When the Qaim of the family of Muhammad (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) appears, he will judge among the people like Dawud (peace be upon him), and there will be no need for evidence, proof or establishing the claim of the two parties; Allah inspires him and he judges by his own knowledge, and he informs every group of what they harbor in their hearts, and by discernment and shrewdness he recognises friend from foe; as Allah has said: إِنَّ فِی ذَلِکَ لآیَاتٍ لِّلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ * وَ إِنَّهَا لَبِسَبِیلٍ مُّقیمٍ [Surely in that are signs for those who examine, and indeed it lies on an established road].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is as though I am looking at al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief) and his companions in the Najaf of Kufa, with birds settled upon their heads [a metaphor for their calm and dignity], their provisions exhausted, their clothes worn out, and the mark of prostration set upon their foreheads. They are lions by day and monks by night; it is as though their hearts are pieces of iron. Each of them has been given the strength of forty men, and none but a disbeliever or a hypocrite kills one of them. Allah the Exalted has described them in His Book with discernment, saying: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief) rises, no one from among Allah's creatures will stand before him without his recognising whether that person is evil-doing or righteous. Be aware that in al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief) there is a sign for those who see, and that is the straight path.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Bunan said: I asked Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Exalted: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]. He said: "The first of them was the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his family), and after him Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), then al-Hasan, then al-Husayn, then Ali ibn al-Husayn, then Muhammad ibn Ali (were the ones, and then Allah knows best)." I said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), what about you yourself?" He said: "Often a man refers to himself by indirect allusion."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ammar ibn Abi Matruf said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "On the forehead of every person it is written whether he is a believer or a disbeliever, but no one is aware of it except the Imams (and the successors, and it is not hidden from them)." Then he recited this verse: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]; and he said: "We are the mutawassimun (the discerning ones). By Allah, no one comes to us without our recognising him by this mark."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Harb al-Hilali, the governor of Medina, said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! How do you know what is in my mind before I ask?" He said: "By discernment and insight. Have you not heard the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, who says: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for al-mutawassimin (those who examine)]; what is meant by al-mutawassimin is the perceptive ones. And he used to say continually: "[O Allah!] How shall I offer excuse when You present the argument and the proof? And how shall I argue when You already know?"

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Hasan ibn Jahm said: Imam Rida (peace be upon him) was asked: "How is it that you are informed of the secrets in people's hearts?" He said: "Have you not heard that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Beware of the insight (firasah) of the believer, for he sees by the light of Allah'?" He said: "I have heard it." He said: "Every believer has insight and perception according to the measure of his faith, knowledge and discernment, and he looks by the light of Allah; and all the understanding, discernment and insight that Allah has distributed among the believers, He has gathered together in us, the Imams. And Allah says in His book: إِنَّ فِی ذَلِکَ لآیَاتٍ لِّلْمُتَوَسِّمِینَ [Surely in this are signs for those who examine]; the first of these perceptive ones is the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), then Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), then Hasan and Husayn, and the Imams from the descendants of Husayn (peace be upon him) until the Day of Resurrection."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Beware of the insight of the believer, for he sees by the light of Allah the Mighty and Majestic; Allah the Exalted has said: إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِین [Surely in this are signs for those who examine].