Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic sends down from the heavens to every Imam his covenant and the duty he is to carry out, sealed with a seal. The Imam breaks that seal and acts upon what is in it. O company of the Shia! In this there is indeed a message for a worshipping people and a clarification for the believers. Whomever Allah the Exalted intends good for, He places him among those who affirm the guiding Imams and submit to them — those to whom Allah the Exalted has granted His nobility, whom He has singled out from among His chosen ones with special honour, and to whom alone, and to no one else of His creation, He has given the divine successorship over all creation. For He made obedience to them obedience to Himself, saying: "Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you" (Nisa/59), and He said: "Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah" (Nisa/80). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) also called the people to the Imams from his own progeny — the Imams whom Allah had commanded to be obeyed and to whom He had guided and directed His creation. The call of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was when he said: "I am leaving behind among you two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my kindred, the people of my house; they are a rope stretched between you and Allah the Exalted — as long as you hold fast to this rope, you will never go astray." And Allah the Exalted, urging the people to obey the commands of the Prophet and warning them against opposing him, commanded: فَلْیَحْذَرِ الَّذِینَ یُخالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ أَنْ تُصِیبَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ أَوْ یُصِیبَهُمْ عَذابٌ أَلِیمٌ [therefore let those beware who go against His order, lest a trial afflict them or a painful chastisement befall them]. And when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was opposed, and his word was cast aside, and his command regarding the kindred was disobeyed, and they seized authority arbitrarily [in disregard of them], and did not act by the command of the kindred, and denied their right, and prevented them from their share of the inheritance, and all joined hands against them out of envy, injustice and enmity — then, upon those who opposed the command of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and became sinners against the progeny of that noble one [and upon their followers and those content with the deeds of the opponents], what Allah had promised them was realised, and He hastened for them trial (fitna) in religion, so that they became blind to seeing the straight path, fell into disagreement over rulings and desires, splintered in opinions, and walked blindly; and for them, on the Day of Reckoning at the Return, He prepared a painful chastisement. And we see that Allah the Mighty and Majestic in the clear text of His Book has stated the punishment He inflicted on a group of His creation, where He says: "So He put hypocrisy in their hearts until the day when they will meet Him, because they broke their covenant with Allah and because they used to lie" (Tawba/77). We see that Allah made the hypocrisy that He left in their hearts a punishment and a recompense for their breaking of the promise, and He called them hypocrites.