سورة الأعراف

Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him): That is, O Children of Israel, remember when Musa (peace be upon him) sought water for his people. And that was when they were wandering lost and thirst had overcome them, until they came weeping and wailing to Musa (peace be upon him) and said: "We are perishing of thirst." Musa (peace be upon him) prayed thus: "O Allah, by the right of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), the chief of the prophets, and by the right of Ali (peace be upon him), the chief of the Imams, and by the right of Fatima (peace be upon her), the great lady of women, and by the right of Hasan (peace be upon him), the chief of the awliya', and by the right of Husayn (peace be upon him), the most excellent of martyrs, and by the right of their progeny and successors, the chiefs of the pure — I adjure You to give these servants of Yours water." Allah the Exalted revealed to Musa (peace be upon him): Strike the stone with your staff. Musa (peace be upon him) did so, and twelve springs gushed forth from it. And each tribe from among the sons of a [single] father from the children of Ya'qub (peace be upon him) had its drinking place known, so that no crowding would occur at another's drinking place.

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Kazim (peace be upon him), through his noble forefathers, from Imam Husayn (peace be upon him), who said: One day one of the Jewish scholars of Sham entered a gathering in which a group of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) were present. The Jew said: "O ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! You have not left any rank or virtue of the prophets and messengers without attributing all of it to your own Prophet. Are you now ready to answer my questions on that matter?" On hearing this question, everyone fell silent and said nothing. When Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) saw this, he said: "Yes." The Jewish scholar said: "This is Musa (peace be upon him), who was given a stone from which twelve springs gushed forth." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "That is indeed so. And to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), when he came down at Hudaybiyyah and the people of Makkah besieged him, something greater than that stone was granted. His companions were struck with severe thirst and complained to him. The intensity of the thirst was such that they all took shelter by the flanks of their mounts, and they reported this to him. So he called for a Yemeni water vessel. Then he placed his blessed hand into the bowl and drew it out. Suddenly, from between the fingers of that noble one, springs of water flowed, and we and all the animals turned to it and were all quenched, and we filled all our vessels with water. And there was there a dry well. The noble one took out an arrow from his quiver, gave it to Bara' ibn Azib and said: 'Plant this arrow in the middle of that dry well!' He did so, and immediately from beneath that arrow twelve springs began to flow. Also the day of the Midah [the place where people would perform ablution there for worship] was a lesson and a sign for those who denied his prophethood. He too, like the stone of Musa (peace be upon him), one day called for that Midah and placed his blessed hand upon it. The water gushed and rose up, such that eight thousand men performed ablution from it and drank as much as they needed, and watered their animals, and carried away whatever they wished."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ibn Abbas said: Abdullah ibn Salam came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "I am the representative and envoy of the Jews to you, with questions for you to explain to us, and you are of the doers of good." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Ibn Salam, sit down and ask whatever you wish." He said: "Tell me of a house that had twelve doors, and twelve springs came forth from it for the twelve tribes." He said: "When Musa brought the Children of Israel across the sea and led them into the wilderness, they complained to him of thirst. So he came upon a four-cornered stone, and Allah revealed to him: Strike your staff upon it. And from it there gushed forth twelve springs for the twelve tribes of the Children of Israel."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When Hazrat Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief) rises in Mecca and intends to set out for Kufa, his herald will call out: Beware! Let none of you carry food or drink with him. He will carry the stone of Musa ibn Imran (peace be upon him), which is the size of a camel's load. He will not halt at any station without a spring flowing from it, and whoever is hungry will be satisfied and whoever is thirsty will be quenched. That provision will remain with them.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Allah brought forth from the Children of Israel — that is, Yaqub son of Ishaq son of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) — twelve tribes from their lineage, and from Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them), the sons of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) from Fatimah (peace be upon her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), He brought forth twelve tribes. Then he mentioned and enumerated the twelve sons of the Children of Israel, [who are]: Rubil, Sham'un, Yahuda, Tashakhur, Rikun, Yusuf, Binyamin, Tafshal, and Dan — and three others which al-Hasan, who is a genealogist, did not mention. Then he enumerated the twelve from the descendants of Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them) and said: From Hasan (peace be upon him) six [lines] spread out — the descendants of Hasan ibn Zayd ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali, the descendants of Abdullah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali, the descendants of Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali, the descendants of al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali, the descendants of Dawud ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali, and the descendants of Ja'far ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali — so the progeny of Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) is only these six groups. Then he enumerated the descendants of Husayn (peace be upon him) and said: The descendants of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali, the descendants of Abdullah al-Bahir ibn Ali, the descendants of Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali, the descendants of al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali, the descendants of Umar ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali, and the descendants of Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali — and from these six groups Allah spread out the descendants of al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him).

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ قَطَّعْنَاهُمُ اثْنَتَیْ عَشْرَةَ أَسْبَاطًا أُمَمًا [And We divided them into twelve tribes, as nations] — that is, We distinguished them from one another.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Tablets of Musa (peace be upon him) are with us, and the staff of Musa (peace be upon him) is with us, and we are the heirs of the prophets.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ ما ظَلَمُونا وَ لکِنْ کانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ یَظْلِمُونَ [And they did not wrong Us, but they were wronging themselves]. He said: "Indeed Allah the Exalted is greater, mightier, more majestic and more exalted than that He should be wronged; but He has joined us to Himself and reckoned wrong done to us as wrong done to Him, and made our wilaya His wilaya, where He says: إِنَّما وَلِیُّکُمُ اللَّهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ وَ الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا [Your guardian is none but Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed] (Ma'ida/55) — by which is meant the Imams of our household. [So just as in this verse He has joined our wilaya to His own wilaya,] in another place [He counted wrong done to us as wrong done to Himself] and said: وَ ما ظَلَمُونا وَ لکِنْ کانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ یَظْلِمُونَ [And they did not wrong Us, but they were wronging themselves]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Concerning the words of Allah: وَ ما ظَلَمُونا وَ لکِنْ کانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ یَظْلِمُونَ [And they did not wrong Us, but they were wronging themselves]; Allah, blessed and exalted, is more majestic and mightier than to be wronged, but He joined His trustees over His creation to Himself, and made known to the creation the majesty of their rank with Him, and that wrong done to them is wrong done to Him — with His statement: وَ ما ظَلَمُونا [And they did not wrong Us], through their hatred of our friends and their aiding of their enemies against them, وَ لکِنْ کانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ یَظْلِمُونَ [but they were wronging themselves], in that they deprived themselves of Paradise and made entry into the Fire binding upon themselves.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Fudayl said: Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said: Have you not reflected on this verse: [But you were ungrateful]! They did not wrong Us, but they were wronging themselves. (Baqarah/57) Allah is mightier and stronger than that wrong should be done to Him, or that He should attribute injustice to Himself. But in these verses where He says they did not wrong Us, He has joined and associated us with Himself, and for this reason has attributed wrong done to us as wrong done to Himself, and has counted our wilayah as His wilayah. Then He revealed a verse to His Prophet in this regard: We did not wrong them, but they were wronging themselves! (Nahl/118) I said: 'Has the verse been revealed in this way?' He said: 'Yes.'