But he [the Imam] said:
'Muhammad ibn al-Mufaddal is the hidden store (maknun) of our knowledge, and he is the arbiter (dayyan) of the believers.'"
Chapter: The Explicit Text and Indication regarding ‘Umar ibn al-Furat.
[141] From Abu Saminah, who said: The Shia said to Al-Rida, Mighty is His Might: "We follow the Gates (Al-Abwab), yet how can ‘Umar have a [spiritual] portion while his name is ‘Umar?"
He [the Imam] replied:
"Its meaning is 'Without Ma'mur' (bidun Ma'mur) 1 ."
Footnotes
1Commentary on the linguistic and mystical derivation:"Al-Ma'mura refers to the lower world (Al-Dunya) or the Earth. Alternatively, the word Ma'mur is derived linguistically and phonetically from the root 'Amara (عمر), which is the origin of the [historical] Opposition (Al-Diddiya).Ma'mur is the 'passive participle' (Ism al-Maf'ul) of the verb 'Umira (عُمر). The passive participle is a noun derived from the letters of a declensable, passive-voice verb, and it denotes the entity upon which the action has occurred—such as 'struck' (madroub) derived from 'to strike' (daraba).In the narration, when the Imam was asked about the reason for naming 'Umar with this name, he said: 'Because he was built up ('Umira) in the world.' Here, 'Umira is a verb in the passive voice [denoting that he was fashioned or inhabited by divine grace]."