سورة الإسراء

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Ismail ibn Jabir, in a long narration, says: it is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Iman (faith), kufr (disbelief), shirk (polytheism), and their decrease and increase are as follows. Faith in Allah is the highest of deeds, stands at the loftiest rank, no station is nobler than it, and its share is greater than all... Sometimes it is complete, sometimes it is deficient, and sometimes it is in excess, in such a way that this deficiency and excess is plainly seen... And if everyone were equal in faith, no one would have any merit or superiority over another. Through complete faith, the believers enter Paradise and attain its degrees. If some people's faith is deficient, or they lose their faith, they enter Hell. Those who have precedence in faith gain superiority over others. Allah has said in His Quran: 'And they; [the third group] are the foremost, the foremost — they are the ones brought near!' (Waqi'ah/10-11) and 'And the first forerunners among the Muhajirin and the Ansar.' (Tawbah/100) He named the Tabi'in and said: 'Some of these messengers We favoured above others; among them was one to whom Allah spoke, and some He raised in degrees, and We gave Isa son of Maryam clear signs and supported him with the Ruh al-Qudus (Holy Spirit).' (Baqarah/253) And He said: 'We favoured some of the prophets over others, and We gave Dawud the Zabur.' (Isra/55) And He said: انْظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلى بَعْضٍ وَ لَلْآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجاتٍ وَ أَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا [See how We have preferred some of them over others, and certainly the hereafter is greater in degrees and greater in preference].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Amr al-Zubayri said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Iman (faith) has degrees and stations, by which the believers differ in rank before Allah?" He said: "Yes." I said: "May Allah have mercy on you, explain it to me so that I may understand." He said: "Allah has set the believers to compete in the field of iman just as horses are set to race on the day of the contest, and then He has granted them excellence in accordance with their degrees of precedence in it, and has placed each one at the rank of his precedence. He does not diminish his right in it, and does not put the one who was outstripped ahead of the one who outstripped, nor the one of lesser merit ahead of the one of greater merit. It is in this field that the earliest of this Ummah and the latest of it strive to outstrip one another. Were it not that those who were foremost in iman had excellence over those who came behind, then the last of this Ummah would catch up with its first. Yes, and you would outstrip them, if those who came earlier to iman did not have excellence over those who were slow to it. But by the degrees of iman Allah has put the foremost ahead, and by slowness in iman Allah has put the falling-short ones behind, for we see among the later believers those whose deeds are more than the earlier ones, and who have more prayer, fasting, hajj, zakat, jihad and spending. Were it not for prior precedences by which the believers excel one another before Allah, then the later ones, by the abundance of their deeds, would be preferred over the earlier ones. But Allah the Mighty and Majestic has refused that the last of the degrees of iman should reach the first of them, or that anyone whom Allah has placed behind should be placed forward in them, or anyone whom Allah has placed forward should be put behind in them." I said: "Inform me about that to which Allah the Mighty and Majestic has called the believers by way of racing toward iman." He said: The word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: "Race towards forgiveness from your Lord, and a Paradise the breadth of which is like the breadth of the heaven and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers." (al-Hadid/21) And He said: "And [the third group are] the foremost, the foremost; they are the ones brought near." (al-Waqiah/10-11) And He said: "The foremost, the first of the Muhajirun and the Ansar." (al-Tawbah/100) And He said: "The foremost, the first of the Muhajirun and the Ansar, and those who followed them in goodness — Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens of Paradise beneath whose trees rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever; and that is the great triumph." (al-Tawbah/100) And He said: "Some of those messengers We caused to excel others; among them was one to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them by degrees." (al-Baqarah/253) And He said: وَ لَقَدْ فَضَّلْنا بَعْضَ النَّبِیِّینَ عَلی بَعْض [And indeed We have caused some of the prophets to excel others]. And He said: اُنْظُرْ کَیْفَ فَضَّلْنا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلی بَعْضٍ وَ لَلْآخِرَةُ أَکْبَرُ دَرَجاتٍ وَ أَکْبَرُ تَفْضِیلاً [See how We have made some of them to excel others, and certainly the hereafter is much superior in respect of degrees and much superior in excellence].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Amr Zubayri said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The believers, through the increase of faith, attain excellence over one another, and their ranks are according to their faith. I said: "Do faiths differ from one another, and are there degrees and ranks for them by which the believers attain excellence over one another?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Yes!" I said: "Explain them to me so that I may understand well." He said: "Allah has given excellence to His friends over one another, and in the Glorious Quran He has said: تِلْکَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلی بَعْضٍ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ کَلَّمَ اللهُ وَ رَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجاتٍ [We made some of those messengers to excel others; among them there are some to whom Allah spoke, and some He raised in ranks above others]. (Baqarah/253) And He said: وَ لَقَدْ فَضَّلْنا بَعْضَ النَّبِیِّینَ عَلی بَعْضٍ [And indeed We have made some of the prophets to excel others]. (Isra/55) And He said: اُنْظُرْ کَیْفَ فَضَّلْنا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلی بَعْضٍ وَ لَلْآخِرَةُ أَکْبَرُ دَرَجاتٍ وَ أَکْبَرُ تَفْضِیلاً [See how We have made some of them to excel others, and certainly the hereafter is much superior in respect of excellence]. From these verses it is clear that ranks and stations differ before Allah and are not all equal."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Indeed, on the morrow of the Resurrection, people will attain lofty ranks and reach nearness to their Lord according to the measure of their intellects.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Do not say they all have one rank; Allah has said: دَرَجَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ [ranks, some above others], and they excel one another according to their own deeds.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ayyashi with his chain narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): I said to him: "May I be your ransom! Inform me..." The Imam said: "Do not say one Paradise, for Allah says: وَ مِنْ دُونِهِما جَنَّتانِ [And besides these two, there are two other gardens]. (Rahman/62) And do not say only one rank, for Allah the Exalted says: دَرَجَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ [ranks, some above others]; indeed the excellence of groups over one another depends on their deeds." I said to His Eminence (peace be upon him): "If two believers enter Paradise and one of them has a higher station than the other, can he meet his friend?" His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: "The one who is higher must descend, and the one whose rank is lower cannot ascend, because he does not reach that rank. But if they wish it and greatly desire it, they can meet one another upon the couches."