Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jabbar ibn Kathir al-Tamimi said: I heard Muhammad ibn Harb al-Hilali, the governor of Madinah, say: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), "O son of the Messenger of Allah! There is a question on my mind that I wish to ask you." He said, "If you wish, I will inform you of your question before you ask me, and if you wish, you may ask." I said to him, "O son of the Messenger of Allah! By what means do you know what is in my heart before I ask?" He said, "By insight and perception. Have you not heard the word of Allah the Exalted: 'Indeed, in that are signs for the discerning' (al-Hijr/75), and the word of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): 'Beware the perception of the believer, for he sees by the light of Allah the Exalted.'" I said, "O son of the Messenger of Allah! Inform me of my question." He said, "You wish to ask me why, when the idols were being pulled down from the roof of the Ka'bah, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) did not carry the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) on his shoulders — even though the strength and power of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) in tearing off the gate of the fortress of Khaybar and hurling it forty cubits behind him — a gate which forty men could not lift — [is known to no one hidden]; and moreover, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) used to ride the horse, the camel, and the donkey, and on the night of the Mi'raj he rode al-Buraq, and all of these were far below Imam Ali (peace be upon him) in strength and power?" I said, "By Allah, this is exactly what I wished to ask, O son of the Messenger of Allah! Answer me." He said, "Imam Ali (peace be upon him) held a [special] honour and merit in the presence of the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and for that reason he placed his foot upon the shoulder of that noble one, and thereby extinguished the fire of shirk (polytheism) and nullified every object of worship other than Allah. Had Imam Ali (peace be upon him) lifted the Prophet up in order to cast down the idols, then the Prophet would have gained rank and station through Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and would have reached the casting down of the idols through him, and if that had been so, then Imam Ali (peace be upon him) would have become superior to him — [but such is not the case]. Have you not seen that Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: 'When I placed my foot upon the shoulder of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), I gained such nobility and rank that if I had wished to reach the sky, I surely would have reached it. Do you not know that it is the lamp by which one is guided in darkness, and the ray of light is from the source of light.' Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: 'I am from Ahmad, like the radiance from the light.' Do you not know that Muhammad and Ali (peace be upon them) were two lights in the presence of Allah the Exalted two thousand years before they were created; and when the angels saw that light, and saw that a brilliant ray shone forth from it, they said, 'O our Lord and Master, what is this light?' Then Allah the Exalted revealed to them: 'This light is from My light; its root is nubuwwah (prophethood) and its branch is imamah (imamate). As for the prophethood, it is for My servant and My messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and as for the imamate, it is for My proof and My friend, Ali (peace be upon him); and were it not for these two, I would not have created My creation.' Do you not know that the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) at Ghadir Khumm took both hands of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) in such a manner that the people saw the whiteness of their armpits, and appointed him the master and imam of the people? And one day in the 'house of Banu al-Najjar', he had taken al-Hasan and al-Husayn (peace be upon them) on his shoulders. One of his companions said to that noble one, 'Give me one of these two [that I may carry him].' He said, 'I myself am a good bearer, and these two are also good riders, and their father is better than them.' And one day he was praying with his companions and prolonged one of his prostrations. When he gave the salam, they said, 'O Messenger of Allah, you prolonged the prostration.' He said, 'My son had mounted upon me; I did not wish to set him down until he came down himself.' And all these matters were to show their elevation and honour, and the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was himself a Messenger, a Prophet, and an Imam, while Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was only an Imam — neither a Messenger nor a Prophet — so he did not have the capacity to bear the weight of the station of prophethood." I said, "Say still more." Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said, "Indeed you are worthy that I should say more. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) took Imam Ali (peace be upon him) upon his shoulder to make the people understand that he is the father of his children and the Imam of the Imams from his loins. He wore his cloak inside out in the 'prayer for rain' to make his companions understand [that this act is a sign of] the transformation from hardship and drought to ease and plenty." I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), "Say still more." Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said, "The Messenger of Allah's (peace be upon him and his family) purpose in taking Imam Ali (peace be upon him) on his shoulder was that his ummah should know that the one who, after him, would take up from his shoulders the heavy load of debts, promises, and the discharge of [trusts] would be only Imam Ali (peace be upon him)." Say still more. The Imam said, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) took that noble one on his shoulder, he was infallible and would not commit any sin; therefore all his sayings and actions in the presence of the people are based on wisdom and expedience. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to Imam Ali (peace be upon him), 'O Ali! Allah the Exalted placed the sins of your Shi'a upon me, then forgave them all, and this is the word of Allah the Exalted: "That Allah may forgive you the past sins and the future sins attributed to you." (al-Fath/2). And when Allah the Exalted revealed the verse: "O you who believe! Take care of your own souls" (al-Ma'idah/105), the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O people, attend to yourselves, for when you are guided, the one who is astray cannot harm you; and attend to me and my brother — obey Ali, for he is pure and infallible, neither astray nor wretched." Then he recited this verse: قُلْ أَطِیعُوا اللهَ وَ أَطِیعُوا الرَّسُولَ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّما عَلَیْهِ ما حُمِّلَ وَ عَلَیْکُمْ ما حُمِّلْتُمْ [Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger; but if you turn back, then on him rests that which is imposed on him and on you rests that which is imposed on you].' Then Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to me, 'O Amir! If I were to inform you of the philosophy of all the fine points and subtleties of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) in taking Ali al-Murtada (peace be upon him) upon his shoulder and casting down the idols from the roof of the Ka'bah, you would surely say that Ja'far ibn Muhammad has gone mad! So what you have heard is enough for you.' In the end I went towards that noble one and kissed his head and said: 'Allah knows best where to place His message.' (al-An'am/124)"