سورة ق

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ نَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَیْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِیدِ [And We are nearer to him than his life-vein]; that is, the vein of the neck.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): We are nearer to him, in terms of knowledge and awareness, than his life-vein. And حَبْلِ الْوَرِیدِ is a vein that is spread throughout the body and is present in all of the limbs of a person. And it has been said: it means the vein of the neck.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): My father, after the morning obligatory prayer, would recite this supplication: O You who are nearer to me than the life-vein!

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Hanifa came to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and said: 'I saw your son Musa (peace be upon him) praying while people were passing back and forth in front of him; he did not forbid them, although such a deed is not correct!' Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'Call Musa for me.' Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) was called, and he said to him: 'My dear son, Abu Hanifa says that you were praying and people were passing in front of you and you did not forbid them from this act!' He replied: 'Yes, my dear father! The One for whom I was praying was nearer to me than the people. Allah says in the Noble Quran: وَ نَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَیْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِیدِ [And We are nearer to him than his life-vein].' Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) embraced him and said: 'May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O treasure-keeper of secrets!'

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): O Habbah! Allah has a station, and we have a place before Him, and none of our deeds is hidden from Him. O Habbah! Allah is nearer to you and to me than the life-vein. O Habbah! Nothing can conceal me or you from the sight of Allah.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O son of Mas'ud! Do not speak except with knowledge of something you have heard and seen, for Allah the Exalted says: Do not follow that of which you have no knowledge; indeed the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these shall be questioned. (Isra/36) And He said: Their testimony shall be written down, and they shall be questioned [about it]. (Zukhruf/19) And He said: [Remember] when the two receivers, seated on the right and on the left, receive [his deeds]. Man utters no word but that there is by him a watcher ready [to record it]. (Qaf/17-18) And He said: وَ نَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَیْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِیدِ [And We are nearer to him than his life-vein].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): A man came to Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and said, "O Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), I have come to doubt the Book that Allah has sent down." Ali (peace be upon him) said to him, "May your mother mourn you! How have you come to doubt the Book that Allah has sent down?" He said, "Because I have found the Book of Allah such that parts of it belie other parts; so how should I not doubt it?" Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) said, "The parts of the Book of Allah confirm one another and do not belie one another, but I reckon that you have not been granted an intellect by which you may profit. So bring forth and state what you have doubted about in the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic!" The man said to His Eminence (peace be upon him): ... "I find Allah, exalted be His mention, saying: 'أَ أَمِنْتُمْ مَنْ فِی السَّماءِ أَنْ یَخْسِفَ بِکُمُ الْأَرْضَ فَإِذا هِیَ تَمُورُ [Do you feel secure from the punishment of Him who is in the heaven, that He should command the earth to split open and swallow you up while it continues to quake?]' (al-Mulk 67:16). And He has said: 'الرَّحْمنُ عَلَی الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوی [The Most Merciful who is established over the Throne]' (Ta-Ha 20:5). And He has said: 'وَ هُوَ اللهُ فِی السَّماواتِ وَ فِی الْأَرْضِ یَعْلَمُ سِرَّکُمْ وَ جَهْرَکُمْ [And He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth; He knows your secret and your open]' (al-An'am 6:3). And He has said: 'إِنَّهُ هُوَ الظَّاهِرُ وَ الْباطِنُ وَ هُوَ مَعَکُمْ أَیْنَ ما کُنْتُمْ [He is the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is with you wherever you may be]' (al-Hadid 57:3-4). And He has said: 'وَ نَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَیْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِیدِ [And We are nearer to him than his life-vein].' So how is this, O Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), and how am I not to doubt what you hear?" ... [Then His Eminence answered:] As for His statement 'أَ أَمِنْتُمْ مَنْ فِی السَّماءِ أَنْ یَخْسِفَ بِکُمُ الْأَرْضَ فَإِذا هِیَ تَمُورُ [Do you feel secure from the punishment of Him who is in the heaven, that He should command the earth to split open and swallow you up while it continues to quake?]' (al-Mulk 67:16), and His statement 'وَ هُوَ اللهُ فِی السَّماواتِ وَ فِی الْأَرْضِ [He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth]' (al-An'am 6:3), and His statement 'الرَّحْمنُ عَلَی الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوی [The Most Merciful who is established over the Throne]' (Ta-Ha 20:5), and His statement 'وَ هُوَ مَعَکُمْ أَیْنَ ما کُنْتُمْ [He is with you wherever you may be]' (al-Hadid 57:4), and His statement 'وَ نَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَیْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِیدِ [And We are nearer to him than his life-vein]' — Allah, blessed and exalted, is thus while being all-glorified and all-holy, above that there should proceed from Him what proceeds from created beings, and He is the Subtle, the All-Aware, and He is more majestic and greater than that anything which comes down upon His creation should come down upon Him. He is witness to every private conversation, and He is the Trustee over every thing, the Illuminator of every thing, the Governor of all things. Exalted is Allah, far above being upon His Throne [in a bodily sense] — a great exaltation.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), when he lay down on the bed of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) in order to protect him from the plotting of the enemies, called out with all his heart and his whole being: ... O He who is nearer to me than the life-vein.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In another supplication [he says:] O He who is nearer to me than the life-vein.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Praise be to Allah, who is exalted in the heaven — so He is high and great — and in the earth is close and near, and is nearer to us than the life-vein.