“It is He Who revealed the Book to you. From it there are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book and others ambiguous. Now as for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow that which was ambiguous from it, out of desire for temptation and out of desire for its interpretation and none knows its interpretation except for God and those established in knowledge. They say: ﴾We have believed in it. All of it is from our Lord.﴿ And none is reminded except those who have insight.” [Al Imran 3:7]

هو الذي أنزل عليك الكتاب منه آيات محكمات هن أم الكتاب وأخر متشابهات فأما الذين في قلوبهم زيغ فيتبعون ما تشابه منه ابتغاء الفتنة وابتغاء تأويله وما يعلم تأويله إلا الله والراسخون في العلم يقولون آمنا به كل من عند ربنا وما يذكر إلا أولو الألباب

Someone reported Abu Muhammad Al-Hamadani, as saying about Imam As-Sadiq (a.): “I asked him about the abrogating and the abrogated and the unambiguous and the ambiguous. He said: ﴾The abrogating is that, which is fixed and the abrogated is that, which has passed away and the unambiguous is that, which is acted upon and the ambiguous is that, which resembles each other.﴿” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 79, Page 383, Hadith 19]

محمد بن مسعود عن أبي محمد الهمداني، عن رجل، عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام قال: سألته عن الناسخ والمنسوخ، والمحكم والمتشابه قال الناسخ الثابت والمنسوخ ما مضى والمحكم ما يعمل به والمتشابه الذي يشبه بعضه بعضا

Muhammad ibn Mas’ud reported about Imam As-Sadiq (a.): “He was asked about the unambiguous and the ambiguous. He said: ﴾The unambiguous is that which one acts upon and the ambiguous is that which was unclear to the ignorant about it.﴿” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 10, Hadith 10]

محمد بن مسعود عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام أنه سئل: عن المحكم والمتشابه، قال: المحكم ما يعمل به والمتشابه ما اشتبه على جاهله

Muhammad ibn Mas’ud reported that Mas’adah ibn Sadaqah said: “I asked Abu Abdillah (As-Sadiq) about the abrogating and the abrogated and the unambiguous and the ambiguous. He said: ﴾The abrogating is that which is fixed, upon which one acts and the abrogated is that upon which one has acted, after which it has been abrogated and the ambiguous is that which was unclear to the ignorant about it.﴿” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Vol. 79, Page 383, Hadith 22]

محمد بن مسعود عن مسعدة بن صدقة قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام عن الناسخ والمنسوخ، والمحكم والمتشابه، قال: الناسخ الثابت المعمول به، والمنسوخ ما كان يعمل به ثم جاء ما نسخه، والمتشابه ما اشتبه على جاهله

Ibn Sinan reported someone as saying: “I asked Abu Abdillah (As-Sadiq) about the Qur’an and Furqan: ﴾Are they both the same thing?﴿ Whereupon he said: ﴾The Qur’an is the whole of the Book and the Furqan is that which is unambiguous and must be acted upon.﴿” [Al-Wasa’il of Al-Amili, Vol. 27, Seute 183, Hadith 33552]

وعن علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه عن ابن سنان أو غيره عمن ذكره قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام عن القرآن والفرقان أهما شيء واحد فقال: القرآن جملة الكتاب والفرقان المحكم الواجب العمل به

Muhammad ibn Salim reported that Imam al-Baqir (a.) said: “People have spoken about the Qur’an without knowledge and that is so, that God says: “It is He Who revealed the Book to you. From it there are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book and others ambiguous. Now as for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow that which was ambiguous from it, out of desire for temptation and out of desire for its interpretation and none knows its interpretation except for God.” (3:7) So the abrogated are among the ambiguous and the unambiguous are among the abrogating.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 7, Hadith 1]

محمد بن يعقوب عن علي بن محمد عن بعض أصحابه عن آدم بن إسحاق عن عبد الرزاق ابن مهران، عن الحسين بن ميمون، عن محمد بن سالم عن محمد بن علي الباقر عليه السلام قال إن أناسا تكلموا في القرآن بغير علم و ذلك أن الله تبارك و تعالى يقول هو الذي أنزل عليك الكتاب منه آيات محكمات هن أم الكتاب وأخر متشابهات فأما الذين في قلوبهم زيغ فيتبعون ما تشابه منه ابتغاء الفتنة وابتغاء تأويله وما يعلم تأويله إلا الله الآية فالمنسوخات من المتشابهات، و المحكمات من الناسخات

Isma’il ibn Jabir reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “God sent Muhammad (a.), whereupon He sealed the prophets through him, so that there is no prophet after him, and He sent down a Book to him, whereupon He sealed the Books through it, so that there is no Book after it.” Until he said: “So the Prophet (s.) made it a continuing sign among his representatives (a.), whereupon the people turned away from them, while they were the witnesses over the people at all times, until they rebelled, against the one who proclaimed the leadership of the leaders (a. ) and sought after their knowledge and this because they struck one part of the Qur’an with the other and argued with the abrogated, since they assumed, that it is from the abrogating and argued with the specific, since they assumed, that it is from the general and argued with the beginning of a verse and left aside the custom (Sunnah), that interprets it and did not look at, what opens and seals the word and did not know its feeds nor its origins since they did not take it from those who are authorized. Thus they were misguided and misled others.” After that, he spoke at length about the arrangement of the Qur’an and the disciplines and aspects that go beyond 110 until he said: “This is a clear indication that the word of the Creator does not resemble the word of the creatures, as His actions do not resemble their actions and for this reason and the like, no one arrives at the essence of the meaning of the actual interpretation of the Book of God except for His Prophet (a.) and His authorized ones (a.).” He was then asked what was meant by the unambiguous from the Book of God, whereupon he said: “As for the unambiguous, it is that which has not been abrogated by anything like the Word of God: ﴾It is He Who has revealed the Book to you. From it are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book and others ambiguous.﴿ (3:7) And the people only threw themselves into destruction through the ambiguous, since they did not stop at its meaning and did not know its real meaning. So they gave it an interpretation according to their personal opinions and got along with it not asking from the authorized ones (a.) and threw the word of the Messenger of God (s.) behind their backs.” [Al-Wasa’il of Al-Amili, Volume 27, Page 200, Hadith 33593]

علي بن الحسين المرتضى عن محمد بن إبراهيم النعماني بإسناده عن إسماعيل بن جابر عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليهما السلام قال: إن الله بعث محمدا، فختم به الأنبياء، فلا نبي بعده، وأنزل عليه كتابا، فختم به الكتب، فلا كتاب بعده إلى أن قال: فجعله النبي صلى الله عليه وآله علما باقيا في أوصيائه، فتركهم الناس، وهم الشهداء على أهل كل زمان حتى عاندوا من أظهر ولاية ولاة الأمر، وطلب علومهم، وذلك أنهم ضربوا القرآن بعضه ببعض واحتجوا بالمنسوخ وهم يظنون أنه الناسخ، واحتجوا بالخاص وهم يقدرون أنه العام، واحتجوا بأول الآية، وتركوا السنة في تأويلها، ولم ينظروا إلى ما يفتح الكلام، وإلى ما يختمه، ولم يعرفوا موارده ومصادره، إذ لم يأخذوه عن أهله، فضلوا وأضلوا، ثم ذكر عليه السلام كلاما طويلا في تقسيم القرآن إلى أقسام وفنون ووجوه، تزيد على مائة وعشرة إلى أن قال عليه السلام وهذا دليل واضح على أن كلام الباري سبحانه لا يشبه كلام الخلق، كما لا تشبه أفعاله أفعالهم، ولهذه العلة وأشباهها لا يبلغ أحد كنه معنى حقيقة تفسير كتاب الله تعالى، إلا نبيه وأوصياؤه عليهم السلام إلى أن قال: ثم سألوه عليه السلام عن تفسير المحكم من كتاب الله، فقال: أما المحكم الذي لم ينسخه شيء فقوله عز وجل: هو الذي أنزل عليك الكتاب منه آيات محكمات هن أم الكتاب واخر متشابهات الآية وإنما هلك الناس في المتشابه لأنهم لم يقفوا على معناه، ولم يعرفوا حقيقته فوضعوا له تأويلا من عند أنفسهم بآرائهم، واستغنوا بذلك عن مسألة الأوصياء، ونبذوا قول رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وراء ظهروهم

Buraid ibn Mu’awiyah reported that he said to Imam Al-Baqir (a.): “The word of God: ﴾No one knows its interpretation except God and those firmly established in knowledge. ﴿” (3:7) He said: “By this is meant the complete interpretation of the Qur’an: ﴾Anyone knows its interpretation except God and those firmly established in knowledge.﴿ Thus the Messenger of God (s.) is the most excellent of those firmly established. God taught him all, that He descended upon him in revelation and interpretation, and God did not reveal anything to him, of which He did not teach him the interpretation and his representatives after him know all of it. Therefore, those who do not know said: ﴾What do we say if we did not know its interpretation?﴿ To which God answered them: ﴾They say: “We have believed in it. All of it is from our Lord.”﴿ And in the Qur’an there is general, specific, abrogating, abrogated, unambiguous and ambiguous. So do those who are firmly established in knowledge know.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 10, Hadith 13]

عن بريد بن معاوية عن محمد بن علي الباقر عليه السلام أنه قال له: قول الله وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ وَٱلرَّاسِخُونَ فِي ٱلْعِلْمِ قال: يعني تأويل القرآن كله إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ وَٱلرَّاسِخُونَ فِي ٱلْعِلْمِ فرسول الله أفضل الراسخين، قد علمه الله جميع ما أنزل عليه من التنزيل والتأويل، و ما كان الله منزلا عليه شيئا لم يعلمه تأويله، و أوصياؤه من بعده يعلمونه كله، فقال الذين لا يعلمون: ما نقول إذا لم نعلم تأويله فأجابهم الله يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا و القرآن له خاص و عام، و ناسخ و منسوخ، و محكم و متشابه، فالراسخون في العلم يعلمونه

Hasan ibn Ali reported that Imam Ali (a.) said: “We are the relatives of the Messenger (s.) who take the unambiguous from His Book and we have knowledge about the abrogating of what God has abrogated and whose burden He removed.” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 74, Page 250, Hadith 1]

الحسن بن علي بن شعبة عن علي بن أبي طالب عليهما السلام قال: نحن أهل رسول الله الذين نستنبط المحكم من كتابه ونميز المتشابه منه ونعرف الناسخ مما نسخ الله ووضع إصره

Abu Basir reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “The Qur’an is unambiguous and ambiguous. As for the unambiguous, we believe in it, act upon it, and confess to it and as for the ambiguous, we believe in it and do not act upon it, and it is the word of God: ﴾It is He Who has revealed the Book to you. From it are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book and others ambiguous. Now as for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow that which was ambiguous from it out of desire for temptation and out of desire for its interpretation and none knows its interpretation except God and those firmly established in knowledge.﴿ (3:7) It is the family of Muhammad (s.).” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 10, Hadith 11]

عن أبي بصير، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: إن القرآن محكم و متشابه، فأما المحكم فنؤمن به و نعمل به و ندين به، و أما المتشابه فنؤمن به و لا نعمل به، وهو قول الله عز و جل: فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ في قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ٱبْتِغَاءَ ٱلْفِتْنَةِ وَٱبْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ و الراسخون في العلم هو آل محمد صلوات الله عليهم أجمعين

Sulaim Ibn Qais reported that Imam Ali (a.) said: “The Messenger of God (s.) was not brought down any verse except that he made me read it and dictated it to me, whereupon I wrote it down in my handwriting and he taught me its explanation and interpretation and its abrogating and abrogated and its unambiguous and ambiguous.” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 36, Page 256, Hadith 75]

محمد بن علي بن الحسين عن المظفر العلوي عن ابن مسرور عن أبيه عن محمد بن نصر، عن الخشاب عن الحسن بن بهلول عن إسماعيل بن همام، عن عمران بن قرة، عن أبي محمد المدائني عن ابن أذينة، عن أبان بن عياش عن سليم بن قيس الهلالي عن علي بن أبي طالب عليهما السلام قال: ما نزلت على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله آية من القرآن إلا أقرأنيها وأملاها علي فكتبتها بخطي وعلمني تأويلها وتفسيرها وناسخها ومنسوخها ومحكمها ومتشابهها

Ja’far As-Sadiq (a.) reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “The people of Basrah wrote to Ali Ibn Husain (Zain-ul-Abidin) to ask him about the Absolute (112:2), whereupon he wrote to them: ﴾In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful. Then. Do not drown in the Qur’an and do not quarrel about it and do not speak about it without knowledge, for I heard my grandfather, the Messenger of God (s.), say: “Whoever has spoken about the Qur’an without knowledge, let him take his place in the Fire.” And that He, praise be to Him, interpreted the Absolute. Thus He said: “God is one. God is the Absolute.” (112:1-2) After that He interpreted it. Thus He said: “He did not beget and was not begotten and none is equal to Him.﴿” (112:3-4) [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 3, page 223 – 224, Hadith 14]

وهب بن وهب القرشي عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عن محمد بن علي الباقر عليهم السلام قال: إن أهل البصرة كتبوا إلى الحسين بن علي عليهما السلام يسألونه عن الصمد، فكتب إليهم: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم أما بعد فلا تخوضوا في القرآن، ولا تجادلوا فيه، ولا تتكلموا فيه بغير علم، فقد سمعت جدي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يقول: من قال في القرآن بغير علم فليتبوأ مقعده من النار وأنه سبحانه قد فسر الصمد فقال: الله أحد الله الصمد ثم فسره فقال: لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوا أحد

Abd-us-Salam Ibn Salih reported that Imam Ar-Rida (a.) said: “The Prophet (s.) said that God said: ﴾He did not believe in Me who interpreted My word according to his opinion and he had no knowledge about Me who compared Me with My creation and he does not belong to My religion who used analogy in My religion.﴿” And he said: “He who left the ambiguity of the Qur’an to its unambiguity was guided the straight path.﴿” Then he said: “Our reports include ambiguous like the ambiguity of the Qur’an and unambiguous like the unambiguity of the Qur’an. So leave the ambiguous reports to the unambiguous reports and do not follow the ambiguous without the unambiguous of them, whereupon you will be misguided.” [Al-Ihtijaj of At-Tabarsi, vol. 2, pg. 192]

عبد السلام بن صالح عن علي بن موسى الرضا عليه السلام قال: أن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال قال الله جل جلاله: ما آمن بي من فسر برأيه كلامي، وما عرفني من شبهني بخلقي، وما على ديني من استعمل القياس في ديني وقال: من رد متشابه القرآن إلى محكمه هدي إلى صراط مستقيم ثم قال: إن في أخبارنا متشابها كمتشابه القرآن، ومحكما كمحكم القرآن فردوا متشابهها إلى محكمها، ولا تتبعوا متشابهها دون محكمها فتضلوا

Sa’id Ibn Tarif reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “People are only required to read the Qur’an as it was revealed, but if they need its interpretation, then the guidance is through us and to us.” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, vol. 27, p. 197]

الحسين بن سعيد عن سعيد بن طريف عن الإمام الباقر عليه السلام قال: فإنما على الناس أن يقرأوا القرآن كما انزل فإذا احتاجوا إلى تفسيره فالاهتداء بنا وإلينا

Muhammad ibn Hasan reported that Imam al-Askari (a.) said: “Do you know, who the one is, who holds fast to him? To whom, by holding on to him, this mighty honor bestowed? He is the one who took the Qur’an and its interpretation from us the people of the House, from our intermediaries, from our messengers to our followers, not from the opinions of the quarrelsome and analogies of the transgressors. Now as for the one, who spoke about the Qur’an according to his own opinion, if he happened to be right, he has become an ignorant one, since he took it from the one, who is not entitled to it and he was like someone who took a path, that is beset by predators, without having any guardians with him, to protect him. Now, if it is bestowed upon him to remain unharmed, then he is not spared from being condemned and scolded by the intellectuals and if it is bestowed upon him to be torn apart by the predators, then it was added to his death, that he was dishonored by the good virtuous people and by the ignorant common people and if the one who speaks about the Qur’an according to his opinion was wrong, then he has taken his place in the fire and his similitude is that of the one who is without a navigator (a. ) and who went out on a raging sea without a suitable ship. No one hears of his death except that he would say: ﴾It serves him right what has happened to him and he deserves what has befallen him.﴿” [Al-Wasa’il of Al-Amili, Vol. 27, Page 202, Hadth 33594]

محمد بن الحسن عن الحسن بن علي العسكري عليهما السلام قال: أتدرون من المتمسك به الذي له بتمسكه هذا الشرف العظيم هو الذي أخذ القرآن وتأويله عنا أهل البيت عن وسائطنا السفراء عنا إلى شيعتنا، لا عن آراء المجادلين وقياس الفاسقين فأما من قال في القرآن برأيه، فان اتفق له مصادفة صواب فقد جهل في أخذه عن غير أهله، وكان كمن سلك طريقا مسبعا من غير حفاظ يحفظونه، فان اتفقت له السلامة فهو لا يعدم من العقلاء الذم والتوبيخ وإن اتفق له افتراس السبع، فقد جمع إلى هلاكه سقوطه عند الخيرين الفاضلين، وعند العوام الجاهلين، وإن أخطأ القائل في القرآن برأيه فقد تبوأ مقعده من النار، وكان مثله مثل من ركب بحرا هائجا بلا ملاح ولا سفينة صحيحة، لا يسمع بهلاكه أحد إلا قال: هو أهل لما لحقه، ومستحق لما أصابه

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim reported that Imam Ali (a.) said: “As for the unambiguous, it is that which has not been abrogated by anything from the Qur’an and that is the Word of God: ﴾It is He Who revealed the Book to you. From it are unambiguous verses, which are the mother of the Book and others ambiguous.﴿ (3:7) And the people were destroyed only by the ambiguous, since they did not stop at its meaning and did not know its real meaning. So they gave it an interpretation according to their personal opinions and got along with not asking the representatives (a.) and threw the word of the Messenger of God (s. ) behind their backs and the unambiguous is what I mentioned in divisions, from that whose interpretation is contained in its revelation, from the permitting of what God permitted in His Book and the forbidding of what God forbade in food, drink and intercourse and this includes what God obligated in prayer, alms , fasting, pilgrimage and effort and from what He pointed out to them and from which they are not exempt in all their actions as the word of God: ﴾O you who believe, when you go to prayer, wash your faces and hands up to the elbows and wipe your heads and feet up to the ankles.﴿ (5:6) And this is the unambiguous, the interpretation (ta’wil) of which is contained in its revelation (tanzil). For its interpretation (ta’wil) it needs no more than the revelation (tanzil) and to it belongs the word of God: ﴾Forbidden to you were dead things, blood, the flesh of swine and that about which one called on someone else besides God.﴿ (5:3) So its interpretation (ta’wil) is contained in its revelation (tanzil) and to it belongs the word of God: ﴾Your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts and your maternal aunts have been forbidden to you.﴿ (4:23) So all this is clear. By nothing has it been abrogated. Due to its descent, there is no need for its interpretation and that is so with everything that goes in this course.” After that, he was asked about the ambiguous from the Qur’an, whereupon he said: “As for the ambiguous from the Qur’an, it is that which differed from it, though it agrees in wording, but has a different meaning, like the word of God: ﴾God misguides whom He wills and guides rightly whom He wills. ﴿ (74:31) Thus in this place He attributed misguidance to Himself and by this is meant that they are straying from the path to Paradise by their action and He attributed it to the disbelievers in another place and He attributed it to idols in another verse.” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 90, Page 12, Hadith 1]

أبو عبد الله محمد بن إبراهيم بن جعفر النعماني عن علي بن أبي طالب عليهما السلام قال: أما المحكم الذي لم ينسخه شيء من القرآن فهو قول الله عز وجل: هو الذي أنزل عليك الكتاب منه آيات محكمات هن أم الكتاب وأخر متشابهات وإنما هلك الناس في المتشابه لأنهم لم يقفوا على معناه، ولم يعرفوا حقيقته فوضعوا له تأويلات من عند أنفسهم بآرائهم واستغنوا بذلك عن مسألة الأوصياء ونبذوا قول رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وراء ظهورهم، والمحكم مما ذكرته في الاقسام مما تأويله في تنزيله من تحليل ما أحل الله سبحانه في كتابه، وتحريم ما حرم الله من المآكل والمشارب والمناكح. ومنه ما فرض الله عز وجل من الصلاة والزكاة والصيام والحج والجهاد ومما دلهم به مما لا غنا بهم عنه في جميع تصرفاتهم مثل قول تعالى: يا أيها الذين آمنوا إذا قمتم إلى الصلاة فاغسلوا وجوهكم وأيديكم إلى المرافق وامسحوا برؤوسكم وأرجلكم إلى الكعبين الآية وهذا من المحكم الذي تأويله في تنزيله لا يحتاج في تأويله إلى أكثر من التنزيل ومنه قوله عز وجل: حرمت عليكم الميتة والدم ولحم الخنزير وما أهل لغير الله به فتأويله في تنزيله. ومنه قوله تعالى: حرمت عليكم أمهاتكم وبناتكم وأخواتكم وعماتكم وخالاتكم إلى آخر الآية فهذا كله محكم لم ينسخه شيء قد استغني بتنزيله من تأويله، وكل ما يجري هذا المجرى. ثم سألوه عليه السلام عن المتشابه من القرآن فقال: وأما المتشابه من القرآن فهو الذي انحرف منه منتفق اللفظ مختلف المعنى، مثل قوله عز وجل: يضل الله من يشاء ويهدي من يشاء فنسب الضلالة إلى نفسه في هذا الموضع، وهذا ضلالهم عن طريق الجنة بفعلهم، ونسبه إلى الكفار في موضع آخر ونسبه إلى الأصنام في آية أخرى

Muhammad ibn Fudail reported Imam Al-Kazim (a.): “I said: ﴾No. It is an reminder.﴿ (80:11) He said: ﴾The leadership.﴿ I said: ﴾His word: “They fulfill the oath.﴿ (76:7) He said: ﴾They fulfill for God the oath which He took from them in the covenant of our leadership.﴿ I said: ﴾We sent down to you the Qur’an as a revelation.﴿ (76:23) He said: ﴾With the leadership of Ali as a revelation.﴿ I said: ﴾This is a revelation (tanzil).﴿ He said: ﴾Yes, this is an interpretation (ta’wil.﴿ I said: ﴾This is an reminder.﴿ (76:29) He said: ﴾The leadership.﴿ I said: ﴾He lets enter into His mercy, whomsoever He will.﴿ (76:31) He said: ﴾In our leadership. He said: “To the wrongdoers He prepared a painful punishment.” (76:31) Do you not see, that God said: “They did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.”﴿ (2:57) He said: ﴾God is more noble and exalted, than to be wronged or for Him to ascribe wrong to Himself, but God mixed us with Himself. Thus, He declared the wrongdoing against us to be wrongdoing against Him and our leadership to be His leadership. Thereupon He revealed a Qur’an to His Prophet about it: “We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.”﴿ (16:118) I said: ﴾This is a revelation.﴿ He said: ﴾Yes.﴿” [Al-Bihar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 24, Page 339, Hadith 59.]

محمد بن يعقوب عن علي بن محمد عن بعض أصحابنا عن ابن محبوب عن محمد بن الفضيل عن موسى بن جعفر عليهما السلام قال: قلت كلا إنها تذكرة قال الولاية قلت قوله يوفون بالنذر قال يوفون لله بالنذر الذي أخذ عليهم في الميثاق من ولايتنا قلت إنا نحن نزلنا عليك القرآن تنزيلا قال بولاية علي تنزيلا قلت هذا تنزيل قال نعم ذا تأويل قلت إن هذه تذكرة قال الولاية قلت يدخل من يشاء في رحمته قال: في ولايتنا قال والظالمين أعد لهم عذابا أليما ألا ترى أن الله يقول وما ظلمونا ولكن كانوا أنفسهم يظلمون قال إن الله أعز وأمنع من أن يظلم أو أن ينسب نفسه إلى ظلم، ولكن الله خلطنا بنفسه فجعل ظلمنا ظلمه وولايتنا ولايته، ثم أنزل بذلك قرانا على نبيه فقال وما ظلمناهم ولكن كانوا أنفسهم يظلمون قلت: هذا تنزيل قال نعم

Buraid Ibn Mu’awiyah reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “The Messenger of God (s.) is the most excellent of those who are firmly established in knowledge. Thus, he has known everything that God revealed in terms of revelation and interpretation and God certainly did not reveal to him anything, whose interpretation He did not teach him, and his authorized representatives after him know everything about it.” I said: “My life be sacrificed to you, Abu l-Khattab said something outrageous about you.” He said: “What did he say?” I said: “He said that you have the knowledge of the permissible and the forbidden and the Qur’an.” He said: “The knowledge of the permissible and the forbidden and the Qur’an is insignificant next to the knowledge of what takes place in the night and in the day.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 9, Hadith 8]

عنه، قال: حدثني أبي، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن عمر بن أذينة، عن بريد بن معاوية، عن محمد بن علي الباقر عليه السلام قال: إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله أفضل الراسخين في العلم، فقد علم جميع ما أنزل الله عليه من التنزيل و التأويل، و ما كان الله لينزل عليه شيئا لم يعلمه التأويل، و أوصياؤه من بعده يعلمونه كله قال: قلت: جعلت فداك، إن أبا الخطاب كان يقول فيكم قولا عظيما، قال: وما كان يقول قلت: إنه يقول: إنكم تعلمون علم الحلال و الحرام و القرآن قال: إن علم الحلال و الحرام و القرآن يسير في جنب العلم الذي يحدث في الليل و النهار

Buraid ibn Mu’awiyah reported that one of the two Imams (a.) said about the verse ﴾None knows its interpretation except God and those firmly established in knowledge﴿ (3:7): “Thus, the Messenger of God (s.) is the most excellent of those who are firmly established in knowledge. God taught him all of the revelation and the interpretation that He revealed to him and God did not reveal anything whose interpretation He did not teach him and the authorized ones after him know all of it and to those, who do not know their interpretation, God answered it with His word when the knowledgeable one spoke about it with knowledge: ﴾They say: “We believed in it. Everything is from our Lord.”﴿ And in the Qur’an there is general, specific, abrogating, abrogated, unambiguous and ambiguous. So those who are firmly established in knowledge know it.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 8, Hadith 4]

و عنه: عن علي بن محمد، عن عبد الله بن علي، عن إبراهيم بن إسحاق، عن عبد الله بن حماد، عن بريد بن معاوية، عن أحدهما عليهما السلام في قول الله عز و جل وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ وَٱلرَّاسِخُونَ فِي ٱلْعِلْمِ فرسول الله أفضل الراسخين في العلم، قد علمه الله عز و جل جميع ما أنزل عليه من التنزيل و التأويل، و ما كان الله لينزل عليه شيئا لم يعلمه تأويله، و أوصياؤه من بعده يعلمونه كله، و الذين لا يعلمون تأويله إذا قال العالم فيهم بعلم، فأجابهم الله بقوله يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا والقرآن خاص وعام، ومحكم و متشابه، و ناسخ و منسوخ، فالراسخون في العلم يعلمونه

Abu Basir reported, that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “The Qur’an is prohibitive and commanding. It enjoins Paradise and forbids Fire and in it is unambiguous and ambiguous. As for the unambiguous, one believes in it, acts upon it, and gives heed to it and as for the ambiguous, one believes in it and does not act upon it and it is His word: ﴾Now as for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow that which was ambiguous from it out of desire for temptation and out of desire for its interpretation and none knows its interpretation except for God and those firmly established in knowledge. They say: “We believed in it. Everything is from our Lord.﴿ He said: “The family of Muhammad (s.) are those firmly established in knowledge.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 9, Hadith 7]

علي بن إبراهيم: قال: حدثنا محمد بن أحمد بن ثابت، قال: حدثنا الحسن بن محمد بن سماعة، عن وهيب بن حفص، عن أبي بصير عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام قال: إن القرآن زاجر و آمر يأمر بالجنة و يزجر عن النار و فيه محكم و متشابه: فأما المحكم فيؤمن به و يعمل به و يعتبر به، و أما المتشابه فيؤمن به و لا يعمل به، و هو قوله: فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ في قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ٱبْتِغَاءَ ٱلْفِتْنَةِ وَٱبْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ وَٱلرَّاسِخُونَ فِي ٱلْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا قال: آل محمد عليهم السلام الراسخون في العلم

Abu Basir reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “We are those firmly established in knowledge and we know its interpretation.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 8, Hadith 3]

و عنه: عن عدة من أصحابنا، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن الحسين بن سعيد، عن النضر بن سويد، عن أيوب بن الحر و عمران بن علي، عن أبي بصير عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: نحن الراسخون في العلم، و نحن نعلم تأويله

Fudail ibn Yasar reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “No one knows its interpretation except for God and those firmly established in knowledge. We know it.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 11, Hadith 14]

عن الفضيل بن يسار، عن محمد بن علي الباقر عليه السلام قال: وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ وَٱلرَّاسِخُونَ فِي ٱلْعِلْمِ نحن نعلمه

Abu s-Sabbah Al-Kinani reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “We are the people to whom God made obedience obligatory. To us belong the booty and the selection of the property and we are those firmly established in knowledge.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 8, Hadith 5]

وعنه: بإسناده عن أحمد بن محمد، عن محمد بن أبي عمير، عن سيف بن عميرة، عن أبي الصّبّاح الكِنانيّ عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام: نحن قوم فرض الله عز وجل طاعتنا لنا الأنفال و لنا صفو المال و نحن الراسخون في العل

Abu Basir reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said: “We are those firmly established in knowledge. So we know its interpretation.” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 11, Hadith 15]

عن أبي بصير عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام قال: نحن الراسخون في العلم، فنحن نعلم تأويله

Sulaim ibn Qais reported that Imam Ali (a.) said: “O Mu’awiyah, the Qur’an is a truth, a light, a guidance, a mercy and a healing for the believers who believed and a deafness in the ears of those who disbelieved and a blindness for them. (41:44) O Mu’awiyah, God did not leave any of the categories of misguidance and callers to the Fire except that He answered them and raised objections in the Qur’an and He forbade their obedience and revealed upon them a Qur’an that spoke against them. He is known by those who know him and he is not known by those who do not know him and I heard the Messenger of God (s.) say: ﴾There is no verse in the Qur’an except that it has an external and an internal and there is no letter of it except that it has a barrier and every barrier has a knowledgeable (a. ) about the external of the Qur’an and its internal and its interpretation and none knows its interpretation except God and those firmly established in knowledge and God commanded the rest of the nation to say: “We believed in it. All is from our Lord.” (3:7) And to leave the knowledge of it to us and God said: “If they would leave it to the Messenger and the commanders from among them, then those who would take it from them and seek for it would know it.﴿” (4:83) [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 9, Hadith 6]

سليم بن قيس الهلالي عن علي بن أبي طالب عليهما السلام: يا معاوية إن القرآن حق، و نور و هدى، و رحمة و شفاء للمؤمنين الذين آمنوا وَٱلَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ فِيۤ آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى يا معاوية، إن الله عز و جل لم يدع صنفا من أصناف الضلالة و الدعاة إلى النار إلا و قد رد عليهم و احتج في القرآن، و نهى عن اتباعهم، و أنزل فيهم قرآنا ناطقا عليهم، علمه من علمه، و جهله من جهله، و إني سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله يقول: ليس من القرآن آية إلا و لها ظهر و بطن، ولا منه حرف إلا و له حد، و لكل حد مطلع على ظهر القرآن و بطنه و تأويله، و ما يعلم تأويله إلا الله و الراسخون في العلم، و أمر الله عز و جل سائر الأمة أن يقولوا: آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا و أن يسلموا لنا، و أن يردوا علمه إلينا، و قال الله عز و جل: وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ وَإِلَىٰ أُوْلِي ٱلأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسْتَنْبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْ ويطلبونه

Mu’alla Ibn Khunais reported, that Imam As-Sadiq (a. ) said: “Now as for what you asked about the Qur’an, that is likewise from your various own conceits, for the Qur’an is not as you have mentioned and everything you heard has a different meaning from that from which you proceed and the Qur’an is just a parable for the people, who know, to the exclusion of others and for those people who read it according to its real reading and they are the ones who believe in it and know about it, but as for the others besides them, it causes them significant difficulties and is far from what their hearts proceed from and that is because the Messenger of God (s. ) said: ﴾Nothing is further from the hearts of the people than the interpretation of the Qur’an.﴿ And in that there is confusion for all the people except for the one whom God willed and God willed by making it unknowable therein merely that they arrive at His gate and path and serve Him and come for His word in obedience to the people through His writing and speakers at His command and that they take from them what they needed from it, not from themselves. Then He said: ﴾If they would leave it to the Messenger and the commanders from among them, then those who take it from them and seek for it would know it.”﴿ (4:83) However, as for those besides them, he never knows about it and it cannot be determined and you have known that it is not possible for all the people to be the commanders, because they do not find anyone for whom they can consult and who can tell them about the commandment and prohibition of God. So God chose a special group to be the commanders, so that they could be guided by them. Now understand this, God willing. Beware of it and again beware of reading the Qur’an according to your own opinion, for the people are not partakers of the knowledge about it as they are partakers of the things outside of it and they are not capable of its interpretation except for the one whom He appointed and his gate which He established to it. Understand now, God willing, and seek the matter in its place. You will find it, God willing.” [Al-Wasa’il of Al-Amili, Volume 28, Page 191, Hadith 33569]

أحمد بن محمد بن خالد عن الحسن بن علي بن فضال، عن ثعلبة بن ميمون، عمن حدثه، عن المعلى بن خنيس عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليهما السلام قال: فأما ما سألت عن القرآن، فذلك أيضا من خطراتك المتفاوتة المختلفة، لأن القرآن ليس على ما ذكرت وكل ما سمعت فمعناه على غير ما ذهبت إليه، وإنما القرآن أمثال لقوم يعلمون دون غيرهم، ولقوم يتلونه حق تلاوته، وهم الذين يؤمنون به ويعرفونه، وأما غيرهم فما أشد إشكاله عليهم، وأبعده من مذاهب قلوبهم، ولذلك قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: إنه ليس شئ أبعد من قلوب الرجال من تفسير القرآن، وفي ذلك تحير الخلائق أجمعون إلا من شاء الله، وإنما أراد الله بتعميته في ذلك أن ينتهوا إلى بابه وصراطه، وأن يعبدوه، وينتهوا في قوله إلى طاعة القوام بكتابه، والناطقين عن أمره، وأن يستنبطوا ما احتاجوا إليه من ذلك عنهم، لا عن أنفسهم، ثم قال: ولو ردوه إلى الرسول وإلى اولي الامر منهم لعلمه الذين يستنبطونه منهم فأما عن غيرهم فليس يعلم ذلك أبدا، ولا يوجد، وقد علمت أنه لا يستقيم أن يكون الخلق كلهم ولاة الأمر، لأنهم لا يجدون من يأتمرون عليه ومن يبلغونه أمر الله ونهيه، فجعل الله الولاة خواص ليقتدى بهم، فافهم ذلك إن شاء الله وإياك وإياك وتلاوة القرآن برأيك، فان الناس غير مشتركين في علمه، كاشتراكهم فيما سواه من الأمور، ولا قادرين على تأويله، إلا من حده وبابه الذي جعله الله له فافهم إن شاء الله، واطلب الأمر من مكانه تجده إن شاء الله

Abd-ur-Rahman Ibn Kathir reported that Imam As-Sadiq (a.) said about the verse: ﴾It is He Who revealed the Book to you. From it are clear verses, which are the mother of the Book﴿ (3:7) said: “The Commander of the believers (a.) and the leaders (a.).” And about ﴾other ambiguous﴿ he said: “So-and-so (Abu Bakr) and so-and-so (Umar): ﴾Now as for those in whose hearts is deviation, their companions and close ones, they follow what was ambiguous from it out of desire for temptation and out of desire for its interpretation and none knows its interpretation except for God and those firmly established in knowledge, the Commander of the believers (a. ) and the leaders (a.).﴿” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, vol. 2, page 8, hadith 2]

عنه عن الحسين بن محمد، عن معلى بن محمد، عن محمد بن اورمة، عن علي بن حسان، عن عبد الرحمن بن كثير عن جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام في قول الله تعالى هُوَ ٱلَّذِيۤ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُّحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَابِ قال: أمير المؤمنين والأئمة عليهم السلام وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ قال: فلان (أبو بكر) وفلان (عمر) فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ في قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ أصحابهم وأهل ولايتهم فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ٱبْتِغَاءَ ٱلْفِتْنَةِ وَٱبْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ ٱللَّهُ وَٱلرَّاسِخُونَ فِي ٱلْعِلْمِ أمير المؤمنين والأئمة عليهم السلام

Ja’far As-Sadiq (a.) reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “Someone said to the Commander of the Believers (a.): ﴾Describe our Lord to us so that we may increase in love for Him and in knowledge about Him?﴿ Whereupon he became angry and preached a sermon to the people. So among what he said: ﴾Stay, O servant of God, by what the Qur’an describes about Him, and the Messenger of God (s.) is superior to you in this in knowledge about Him. So be guided by Him and seek enlightenment by the light of His guidance, for it is but a grace and wisdom given to you. So take what you were given and be one of the grateful ones and what Satan has imposed on you from that whose duty is not imposed on you in the Book and whose trace is not imposed on you in the custom of the Messenger (s.) and the righteous guides (a.), its full knowledge is to be left to God and do not measure the importance of God in the measure of your intellect, whereupon you are among the perished and know, O servant of God, that those who are firmly established in knowledge are those, whom God made ignorant of storming the gates of the hidden things and they professed ignorance of what they were ignorant of concerning His interpretation of the hidden things. Thus they said: “We believed in it. Everything is from our Lord.” And God has pledged their confession of not being able to reach what they do not encompass with knowledge and He called their refraining of delving into that which they are not commanded to fathom, a firm anchorage.﴿” [Al-Burhan of Al-Bahrani, Volume 2, Page 10, Hadith 12]

عن مسعدة بن صدقة، عن جعفر بن محمد عن أبيه أن رجلا قال لأمير المؤمنين عليه السلام: هل تصف ربنا نزداد له حبا و به معرفة فغضب عليه السلام و خطب الناس فقال فيما قال: عليك يا عبد الله بما ذلك عليه القرآن من صفته، و تقدمك فيه الرسول من معرفته، فائتم به و استضىء بنور هدايته، فإنما هي نعمة و حكمة أوتيتها، فخذ ما أوتيت و كن من الشاكرين و ما كلفك الشيطان عليه مما ليس عليك في الكتاب فرضه، و لا في سنة الرسول و الأئمة الهداة أثره، فكل علمه إلى الله، و لا تقدر عظمة الله على قدر عقلك فتكون من الهالكين و اعلم يا عبد الله أن الراسخين في العلم هم الذين أغناهم الله عن الاقتحام على السدد المضروبة دون الغيوب، و أقروا بجهل ما جهلوا تفسيره من الغيب المحجوب، فقالوا: آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا وقد مدح الله اعترافهم بالعجز عن تناول ما لم يحيطوا به علما، و سمى تركهم التعمق فيما لم يكلفهم البحث عنه رسوخا