سورة محمد

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Then Allah addressed the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and said: یا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللهَ یَنْصُرْکُمْ وَ یُثَبِّتْ أَقْدامَکُمْ [O you who believe! If you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (peace be upon him), that he said: Indeed, jihad is a door which Allah has opened for the elite among His friends, and He has stored it up for them as an honour and a blessing. Jihad is the garment of piety, the firm fortress and the trusted shield of Allah. Whoever abandons it and turns away from it, Allah clothes him in the garment of humiliation and the cloak of tribulation, and he is separated and distanced from ease, and a veil and covering settles over his heart. He is debased and made small through disgrace, afflicted with helplessness, and denied fairness; and whoever wastes and ruins jihad, Allah becomes angry with him for having abandoned helping Him. And Allah the Exalted has said in His firm Book: إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللهَ یَنْصُرْکُمْ وَ یُثَبِّتْ أَقْدامَکُمْ [If you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): And know that this thin skin has no endurance against the Fire, so have mercy on yourselves, for you have tested yourselves in the tribulations of the world [and have not been able to bear even its smallest setbacks]. Have you not seen how one of you groans and cries out in pain from a thorn that pierces his body, from a stumble that draws his blood, and from hot sand that burns him? So what will his state be when he is between two slabs of fire, sharing a bed with burning stone and a companion of Satan? … Do you know that when Malik, [the keeper] of Hell, becomes angry with the Fire, out of his anger the Fire [seethes and rages and] its parts crush one another (piling one upon another), and when he rebukes it (shouts at it), losing all patience it leaps up moaning between the gates of Hell out of his rebuke? O aged elder whom the frailty of old age has overtaken, how will you be when the collars of Fire cling to the bones of the necks and the fetters and chains cling until they devour the flesh of the arms? So, O company of servants, fear Allah! Fear Allah while you are in good health before illness [and the arrival of death], and in ease and comfort [of the world] before the narrowness and hardship [of the grave] you are at rest (you are able to obtain the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) and to be delivered from the calamity that follows death). So strive to free your necks before those necks are pawned. Keep your eyes awake (spend the nights in worship) and make your bellies lean (fast), and put your feet to work (step forward in good deeds), and spend your wealth [in the way of Allah], and sacrifice your bodies for your souls, and do not be miserly in this matter (use these bodies — which will soon perish and rot beneath the dust — in worship, servitude and jihad against the enemies of the faith, so that you may be delivered from everlasting punishment and dwell in the eternal Paradise), for Allah the Glorified has said: إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللهَ یَنْصُرْکُمْ وَ یُثَبِّتْ أَقْدامَکُمْ [If you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Take from your bodies and give generously to your souls, and do not be miserly in giving from the former to the latter, for Allah the Glorified has said: إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللهَ یَنْصُرْکُمْ وَ یُثَبِّتْ أَقْدامَکُمْ [If you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet] ... Allah does not ask your help out of any weakness; He has asked your help while the hosts of the heavens and the earth are under His command, and He is the Mighty, the Wise ... He willed only to test you, to see whose deeds are best. So hasten with your deeds, that you may be with the neighbours of Allah in His abode. He has made His messengers their companions, sent His angels to visit them, honoured their ears that they may never hear the crackling of the Fire, and preserved their bodies from meeting any weariness or hardship. ذلِکَ فَضْلُ اللهِ یُؤْتِیهِ مَنْ یَشاءُ وَ اللهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِیم [That is the grace of Allah; He gives it to whom He wills (and deems worthy), and Allah is the possessor of great grace!]. (al-Jumu'ah/4).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) that he said: It is written upon the Throne of Allah: "I am the Lord. The One Lord; there is none besides Me and I have no partner, and Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is My servant and My messenger, and I have supported him with Ali (peace be upon him)." And Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: هُوَ الَّذِی أَیَّدَکَ بِنَصْرِهِ وَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِینَ [He it is who supported you with His help and with the believers]. (al-Anfal/62) In this verse, what is meant by "the help" is Ali (peace be upon him), and since he is also among the believers, the help is gathered in Ali (peace be upon him) from both aspects.