Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, created the spirits two thousand years before He created the bodies, and He made the spirits of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn and the Imams after them (peace be upon them) the highest and noblest of those spirits. He presented their spirits to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, and their light covered the heavens, the earth and the mountains. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, said to the heavens, the earth and the mountains: "These are My beloved, My awliya (friends), My proofs over My creation, and the Imams of My creatures. I have not created any creature more beloved to Me than them. For their sake, and for the sake of those who took their wilaya (guardianship), I created My paradise; and for the sake of those who opposed them and were their enemies, I created My fire. So whoever claims to have their station with Me and their place at My greatness, I shall punish him with a punishment with which I have punished no one in the worlds (Ma'idah/115), and I shall place him together with the polytheists in the lowest depth of My fire. And whoever affirms their wilaya and does not claim to have their station with Me or their place at My greatness, I shall place him together with them in the gardens of My paradise, and whatever they wish from Me shall be provided for them therein. I have granted them My honour, I have seated them in My neighbourhood, and I have made them intercessors for the sinful among My male and female servants. So their wilaya is a trust with My creation. Which of you, then, will bear it with its burdens and claim it for himself rather than for My chosen ones?" So the heavens, the earth and the mountains refused to bear it and were afraid of it, and were afraid of claiming its station and of desiring its place at the greatness of their Lord. When Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, settled Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife in paradise and said to the two of them: "And eat freely from it [its bounties] wherever you wish, [but] do not draw near this tree (Baqarah/35), or you will be among the wrongdoers (A'raf/19)" — Adam and his wife looked at the station of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn and the Imams after them (peace be upon them) and found their station to be the finest of the stations of paradise. They said: "Our Lord! For whom is this station?" Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: "Raise your heads and look at the leg of My Throne." The two of them raised their heads and looked, and saw the names of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn and the Imams after them (peace be upon them) written upon the leg of the Throne with a light from the light of Allah the Almighty, glorified be His majesty. They said: "Our Lord! How honoured and great are the possessors of this station and place with You, and how beloved and noble are they with You!" Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: "Were it not for them, I would not have created the two of you. These are the treasurers of My knowledge and the trustees of My secret. Beware of looking at them with the eye of envy and desiring their station with Me and their place at My honour, for by such an act you would fall into disobedience and into what I have forbidden ..." So the two of them were brought down, left to themselves in the pursuit of livelihood. When Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, willed to accept their repentance, Jibra'il came to the two of them and said: "You wronged yourselves only because you desired the station and place of those who were preferred above you. So the recompense of your act was that you have been punished by descending from the neighbourhood of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to His earth. So ask your Lord, by the right of the very names that you saw upon the leg of the Throne, to accept your repentance." So the two of them said: "O Allah! We ask You by the right of those who are the most honoured with You, namely: Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn and the Imams (peace be upon them), that You accept our repentance and have mercy upon us." So Allah accepted their repentance; indeed He is the Ever-Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. After Adam (peace be upon him), the prophets of Allah continued to preserve this trust and to inform their successors and the sincere ones of their communities about it, and they refused to bear it and were afraid of claiming it, and the one who took it up was the man whom everyone knows. So the root of all wrongdoing until the Day of Resurrection stems from him, and this is the meaning of the verse: إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَی السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ الْجِبَالِ فَأَبَیْنَ أَن یَحْمِلْنَهَا وَ أَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَ حَمَلَهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّهُ کَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا [Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it, and man bore it. Indeed, he was ever unjust and ignorant].