سورة الكهف

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): What is meant by "لَقَدْ جِئْناکُمْ بِالحَقِّ [Indeed We have brought you the truth]" (al-Zukhruf/78) is the wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), "وَ لکِنَّ أَکْثَرَکُمْ لِلْحَقِّ کارِهُونَ [but most of you are averse to the truth]." And the evidence that the truth (al-Haqq) is the wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) is this saying of Allah: "وَ قُلِ الحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّکُمْ [And say: The truth is from your Lord]" — what is meant by al-Haqq in it is the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him) — "فَمَنْ شاءَ فَلْیُؤْمِنْ وَ مَنْ شاءَ فَلْیَکْفُرْ إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنا لِلظَّالِمِینَ [so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve; surely We have prepared for the iniquitous]" — against the family of Muhammad, in taking their right from them — "ناراً [a fire]." Then following this, He mentioned the first verse, and that they made a pact in the Ka'ba that they would not allow the succession of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) to be given to his Ahl al-Bayt, and therefore He says: "Rather, they made a firm decision on a plot; We too have a firm resolve [regarding them]! ... they are with them and they write down!" (al-Zukhruf/79-80).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic has made obligatory upon the tongue the utterance and the expression of what the heart has affirmed and acknowledged. Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: "قُولُوا آمَنَّا [Say: We have believed in Allah]..." (al-Baqara/136); and He said: "وَ قُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْناً [And speak good to the people]" (al-Baqara/83); and He said: "وَ قُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِیداً [And speak the right word]" (al-Ahzab/70); and He said: "وَ قُلِ الحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّکُمْ [And say: The truth is from your Lord]"; and other similar things which Allah the Mighty and Majestic has commanded to be spoken. So this is what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has made obligatory upon the tongue, and that is its action.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali (peace be upon him)! By Allah who raised me to prophethood and chose me over all creation, if a servant were to worship Allah for a thousand years, it would not be accepted from him except through love of you and love of the Imams from your offspring. Jibra'il informed me of this: فَمَنْ شاءَ فَلْیُؤْمِنْ وَ مَنْ شاءَ فَلْیَکْفُرْ [So let him who wishes believe, and let him who wishes disbelieve].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) narrated from his father: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), at the time of his death, called Abbas in private and said to him: "O Abul-Fadl! Among the things my Lord will question me about is my conveying to all the people, and especially to my household, the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him); فَمَنْ شاءَ فَلْیُؤْمِنْ وَ مَنْ شاءَ فَلْیَکْفُرْ [So let him who wishes believe, and let him who wishes disbelieve]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): ... Listen and give ear; I commanded you to greet Ali (peace be upon him) with the title Amir al-Mu'minin, and some asked me whether that is by the command of Allah and His Messenger. Muhammad has no right to bring any matter from himself; rather, whatever he does, he acts by the revelation and command of his Lord. By Him in whose hand my soul is! If you do not accept this matter and you break it, you will disbelieve and you will part from that with which I have been sent. فَمَنْ شاءَ فَلْیُؤْمِنْ وَ مَنْ شاءَ فَلْیَکْفُرْ [So let him who wishes believe, and let him who wishes disbelieve].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Asim al-Kuzi said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) saying regarding this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: فَمَن شَاء فَلْیُؤْمِن وَ مَن شَاء فَلْیَکْفُرْ [So let him who wishes believe, and let him who wishes disbelieve]: "It is a wa'id (threat)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The helpers of the oppressors on the Day of Judgement will be in a canopy of fire until Allah judges between the servants.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ziyad ibn Salama said: I came to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him). He said to me: "Ziyad! You work for the sultan?" I said: "Yes." He said: "Why?" I said: "I am a man with heavy expenses and dependents, and I have no wealth to cover my costs." He said: "If I were to fall from a high mountain and be torn to pieces, it would be more beloved to me than to take on a responsibility on behalf of one of them or to step upon his carpet, except for what?" I said: "I do not know, may I be your ransom!" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Except to relieve the grief of a believer, or to free a captive, or to pay the debt of a believer. O Ziyad! Indeed, the least thing Allah does to those who take on responsibility on their behalf is that He pitches a curtain of fire over them until Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, finishes the reckoning of creation."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Oppression is of three kinds: 1. an oppression that is not forgiven; 2. an oppression that Allah forgives; 3. an oppression that He does not let pass. As for the oppression that is not forgiven, it is associating partners with Allah. As for the forgivable oppression, it is the servant's oppression of himself in what is between him and Allah. And as for the oppression that Allah does not let pass, it is the rights people have upon one another.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنا لِلظَّالِمِینَ ناراً أَحاطَ بِهِمْ سُرادِقُها [Surely We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose curtains encompass them]; it is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): the suradiq is a wall of fire that surrounds them.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: "On the day when this earth shall be changed into another earth, and the heavens [into other heavens]" (Ibrahim/48). He said: "The earth will be turned into pure bread from which people will eat until the reckoning of the Day of Resurrection is finished." Someone said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "On the Day of Reckoning people will be so occupied with their own affair and preoccupied that no one will think of drinking and eating." The Imam said: "Allah the Exalted created the son of Adam with a hollow belly, and he must eat food and drink water. I ask you: are they more preoccupied on such a day, or when they are in the Fire crying for help and seeking aid?! Allah the Blessed and Exalted has said concerning this: وَ إِنْ یَسْتَغِیثُوا یُغاثُوا بِماءٍ کَالْمُهْلِ یَشْوِی الْوُجُوهَ بِئْسَ الشَّرابُ [And if they cry for help, they are given help with water like molten brass which scalds the faces; evil is the drink]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): In the narration of Abu al-Jarud it is reported: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said concerning the words of Allah: وَ إِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ لَمَوْعِدُهُمْ أَجْمَعِینَ — [it means] their standing on the Sirat; and as for: "And Hell is the promised place of them all! It has seven gates, and for every gate a specified group of them is assigned" (al-Hijr/43–44) — [concerning this verse] I have heard, and Allah knows best, that Allah has created Hell in seven different degrees and levels, the worst and most burning of which is al-Jahim, whose people stand upon burning, pure fire, and their brains boil in their heads as water or food boils in a pot. ... And the fifth is al-Hawiyah, which has a keeper. The people of Hell seek help from him, saying: "O Malik! Give us water!" Malik brings them a vessel of fire in which sadid has been poured — sadid is water that flows from the burnt skin of the people of Hell, resembling molten metal or pitch; whenever they wish to drink from it, from the intensity of its heat the flesh of their faces falls off, as He says: وَ إِنْ یَسْتَغِیثُوا یُغاثُوا بِماءٍ کَالْمُهْلِ یَشْوِی الْوُجُوهَ بِئْسَ الشَّرابُ وَ ساءَتْ مُرْتَفَقاً [And if they cry for help, they are given help with water like molten brass which scalds the faces; evil is the drink and ill is the resting-place]. Whoever falls into it, falls for seventy years in the Fire, and however much his skin burns, a new skin grows for him. The sixth is al-Sa'ir, in which there are three hundred pavilions of fire, in each pavilion three hundred palaces, and in each palace three hundred rooms of fire, in each room three hundred kinds of torment. Therein are snakes and groups of fire, scorpions, and shackles and chains of fire.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): When the "zaqqum" and "dari'" (dry, bitter, foul-smelling thorns) boil in the bellies of the people of the Fire like the boiling of scalding water, they will ask for something to drink; then a drink of foul pus and stinking, putrid water will be brought to them. He gulps it down bit by bit; and he will never willingly drink it of his own accord; and death comes upon him from every direction, yet with all of this he does not die; and beyond him is a severe punishment! (Ibrahim/17) And scalding water that has been boiling in Hell since the time of its creation; which, like molten metal, scalds the faces. What an evil drink, and what an evil gathering.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Abu Umamah that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said concerning the word of Allah: "And he is given to drink of putrid, foul water" (Ibrahim/16): "It is brought near him and he detests it, and when it is brought close to him his face is roasted and the skin of his head falls off, and when he drinks it, it cuts his intestines and comes out through his rear. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: وَ سُقُوا ماءً حَمِیماً فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعاءَهُمْ [And they will be given to drink scalding water which will cut their intestines to pieces], and He says: وَ إِنْ یَسْتَغِیثُوا یُغاثُوا بِماءٍ کَالمُهْلِ یَشْوِی الْوُجُوهَ [And if they cry for water, they shall be given water like molten brass which will scald their faces]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): By the One who sent me with the truth, the drinker of wine will come on the Day of Resurrection while his face is black, his eyes are blue, and his lips are wrinkled and shrivelled; the saliva of his mouth flows down onto his feet. Whoever sees him considers him filthy and keeps away from him. By the One who sent me with the truth, the drinker of wine dies thirsty, and he is thirsty in the grave, and is resurrected on the Day of Resurrection thirsty, and for a thousand years he cries out, "Oh, my thirst!" Then water is brought to him which, like molten metal, scalds the faces. His face is cooked and his teeth and his eyes drop out and fall into that vessel, and he has no choice but to drink it, and [when he drinks it] whatever is inside him melts [and becomes liquid].