سورة الملك

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Fudayl said: I was in the service of Imam Baqir (peace be upon him), and while he was leaning on me, he entered al-Masjid al-Haram. We were in front of the gate of Bani Shaybah. The Imam (peace be upon him) looked at the people and said: O Fudayl! In the age of jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic ignorance) they used to perform tawaf (circumambulation) in this way, and they recognized no truth and had no religion or creed. O Fudayl! Look at them — they have laid their faces down to the ground and are upside-down. May the curse of Allah be upon them! What a transformed, ruined and inverted people they are! Then he recited this verse: أَفَمَن یَمْشِی مُکِبًّا عَلَی وَجْهِهِ أَهْدَی أَمَّن یَمْشِی سَوِیًّا عَلَی صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِیم [What! is he who goes prone upon his face better guided or he who walks upright upon a straight path?]. By Allah! What is meant [by this verse] is Ali (peace be upon him) and his successors.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Fudayl said: I said to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): 'What is meant by the verse: أَفَمَن یَمْشِی مُکِبًّا عَلَی وَجْهِهِ أَهْدَی أَمَّن یَمْشِی سَوِیًّا عَلَی صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِیمٍ [What! is he who goes prone upon his face better guided or he who walks upright upon a straight path?]?' He said: 'Allah has given a parable, and has likened anyone who turns away from the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him) to one who has fallen on his face and walks head-downward and reaches nowhere; and one who follows him is likened to one who walks steadily on the straight path, and the straight path is Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him).'

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Sa'd narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) that he said: 'Hearts are of four kinds: a heart that contains both hypocrisy and faith, a heart that is inverted (mankus), a sealed heart (matbu'), and a shining heart (azhar).' I said: 'What does the "azhar" heart mean?' He said: 'Its inside is like a lamp. The sealed heart is the heart of the hypocrite, and the shining heart is the heart of the believer — if He gives to him he gives thanks, and if He tries him he is patient. As for the inverted heart, it is the heart of the polytheist.' Then he recited this verse: أَفَمَن یَمْشِی مُکِبًّا عَلَی وَجْهِهِ أَهْدَی أَمَّن یَمْشِی سَوِیًّا عَلَی صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِیمٍ [What! is he who goes prone upon his face better guided or he who walks upright upon a straight path?]. 'As for the heart in which there is both hypocrisy and faith, they were a group in Ta'if — if death overtook one of them while he was in his hypocrisy, he perished, and if it overtook him while he was in his faith, he was saved.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): أَ فَمَنْ یَمْشِی مُکِبًّا عَلی وَجْهِهِ أَهْدی [What! is he who goes prone upon his face better guided?] — that is, the enemies of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) — أَمَّنْ یَمْشِی سَوِیًّا عَلی صِراطٍ مُسْتَقِیمٍ [or he who walks upright upon a straight path?] — this refers to Salman (may Allah have mercy on him), Miqdad (may Allah have mercy on him), Ammar (may Allah have mercy on him), and his companions.