Al-Usayfir

Thus, the Apparent of Allah is the Successors Awsiya¹. So accept [this] with a good acceptance."

I said: "My Master, repeat it to me."

So he said: "The Inner of Allah is Unseen [Ghayb], not perceived. And His Apparent is His Lights from His Veils, and they are the Successors."

Then Muhammad ibn Sinan—peace be upon him—said to us: "None indicates Allah except he who is from Him or from His Special Light."²

We said: "Repeat it to us, O Mercy of Allah."

He said: "Yes, none indicates Allah except he who is from Him."

We said: "Repeat it to us, O Mercy of Allah."

He said: "Do you not know that Muhammad indicated Ali by his saying: 'Whomever I am his Master [Mawla], then Ali is his Master'—meaning his Meaning [Ma'nahu]. And Muhammad indicated Allah since he was from Him and from His Light. Have you understood it!?"

We said: "Yes."

He said: "Is ‘Ali not [composed of] disconnected and connected letters?"

Footnotes

¹The text clearly indicates that the Successors [Awsiya] are Light, and that Light appears through the manifestation of miracles, destines, and knowledge of the unseen matters... etc. Our Master, the Commander of the Faithful [Amir al-Mu'minin]—may his life be exalted—said: "He has not known me who has not known me by Luminousness [Nuraniyya]." The Questioner said: "What is the relationship of His appearance to the Successors? And by what thing do we know Him and infer Him if we see Him with human attributes?!" The Scholar—may his might be exalted—said: "The sign of that is their speaking of the Unseen, their reviving of the dead, and their changing of a thing from its entity and its configuration. For that belongs to the Lord, not the servant."

²From Him and from His Light": (Min / From) here is for commencement [Ibtida'] and not for partitioning [Tab'id].

مكتبة كتيبة محمّد بن نصير Muhammad bin Nusayr's Library Bibliothèque de Muhammad bin Nusayr کتابخانه کتیبه محمد بن نصیر

Al-Usayfir - Muhammad ibn Shu‘ba al-Harrani

Footnotes