ع قَالَ: قُلْتُ أَرْبَعاً أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى تَصْدِيقِي بِهَا فِي كِتَابِهِ قُلْتُ الْمَرْءُ مَخْبُوءٌ تَحْتَ لِسَانِهِ فَإِذَا تَكَلَّمَ ظَهَرَ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَ لَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ فِي لَحْنِ الْقَوْلِ قُلْتُ فَمَنْ جَهِلَ شَيْئاً عَادَاهُ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهِ بَلْ كَذَّبُوا بِما لَمْ يُحِيطُوا بِعِلْمِهِ وَ قُلْتُ قَدْرُ أَوْ قِيمَةُ كُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا يُحْسِنُ- فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فِي قِصَّةِ طَالُوتَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفاهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ زادَهُ بَسْطَةً فِي الْعِلْمِ وَ الْجِسْمِ وَ قُلْتُ الْقَتْلُ يُقِلُّ الْقَتْلَ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَ لَكُمْ فِي الْقِصاصِ حَياةٌ يا أُولِي الْأَلْبابِ

peace be upon him, who said: I said four things, and God the Exalted sent down confirmation of me in them in His Book. I said: A man is hidden beneath his tongue; when he speaks, he appears. So God the Exalted sent down: "and you will surely know them by the cast of their speech." I said: Whoever is ignorant of a thing is hostile to it. So God sent down: "Nay, they cried lies to what they did not encompass in knowledge." And I said: The measure — or the worth — of every man is what he does well. So God sent down, in the story of Talut: "God has chosen him over you and increased him amply in knowledge and in body." And I said: Killing lessens killing. So God sent down: "And in retaliation there is life for you, O possessors of understanding."

بيان: مخبوء أي مستور تحت لسانه لا يعرف كماله و لا نقصه و لا صدقه و يقينه و لا كذبه و نفاقه إلا إذا تكلم و قوله تعالى وَ لَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ جواب قسم محذوف و لحن القول أسلوبه و إمالته إلى جهة تعريض و تورية و منه قيل للمخطى لاحن لأنه يعدل بالكلام عن الصواب و البسطة السعة.

Elucidation: "hidden" — that is, veiled beneath his tongue; neither his completeness nor his deficiency is known, nor his truthfulness and his certainty, nor his lying and his hypocrisy, save when he speaks. And His words, exalted be He, "and you will surely know them", are the answer to an omitted oath. And "the cast of speech" is its manner and its inclining towards a side of allusion and equivocation. And from it the one who errs is called lahin, because he turns speech away from what is correct. And al-basta is amplitude.

«6»- ما، الأمالي للشيخ الطوسي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَبَّاسِ النَّحْوِيُّ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْفَرَجِ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْأَوْسِ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ الْخَلِيلَ بْنَ أَحْمَدَ يَقُولُ أَحَثُّ كَلِمَةٍ عَلَى طَلَبِ عِلْمٍ قَوْلُ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عليهما السلام قَدْرُ كُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا يُحْسِنُ.

«6»- ma, the Amali of al-Shaykh al-Tusi: Muhammad b. al-'Abbas the grammarian, from 'Abd Allah b. al-Faraj, from Sa'id b. al-Aws al-Ansari, who said: I heard al-Khalil b. Ahmad saying: The most urging word to the seeking of knowledge is the saying of 'Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon them both: The measure of every man is what he does well.

بيان: قال الجوهري هو يحسن الشي ء أي يعلمه.

Elucidation: al-Jawhari said: he yuhsinu a thing — that is, he knows it.

«7»- لي، الأمالي للصدوق أَبِي عَنْ سَعِيدٍ عَنِ الْيَقْطِينِيِّ عَنْ يُوسُفَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ الْعَطَّارِ عَنِ ابْنِ طَرِيفٍ عَنِ ابْنِ نُبَاتَةَ قَالَ قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ عليهما السلام تَعَلَّمُوا الْعِلْمَ فَإِنَّ تَعَلُّمَهُ حَسَنَةٌ وَ مُدَارَسَتَهُ تَسْبِيحٌ وَ الْبَحْثَ عَنْهُ جِهَادٌ وَ تَعْلِيمَهُ لِمَنْ لَا يَعْلَمُهُ صَدَقَةٌ وَ هُوَ أَنِيسٌ فِي الْوَحْشَةِ وَ صَاحِبٌ فِي الْوَحْدَةِ وَ سِلَاحٌ عَلَى الْأَعْدَاءِ وَ زَيْنُ الْأَخِلَّاءِ يَرْفَعُ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَقْوَاماً يَجْعَلُهُمْ فِي الْخَيْرِ أَئِمَّةً يُقْتَدَى بِهِمْ تُرْمَقُ أَعْمَالُهُمْ وَ تُقْتَبَسُ آثَارُهُمْ- تَرْغَبُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ فِي خُلَّتِهِمْ يَمْسَحُونَهُمْ بِأَجْنِحَتِهِمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ لِأَنَّ الْعِلْمَ حَيَاةُ الْقُلُوبِ وَ نُورُ الْأَبْصَارِ مِنَ الْعَمَى وَ قُوَّةُ الْأَبْدَانِ مِنَ الضَّعْفِ وَ يُنْزِلُ اللَّهُ حَامِلَهُ مَنَازِلَ الْأَبْرَارِ وَ يَمْنَحُهُ مُجَالَسَةَ الْأَخْيَارِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ الْآخِرَةِ بِالْعِلْمِ يُطَاعُ اللَّهُ وَ يُعْبَدُ وَ بِالْعِلْمِ يُعْرَفُ اللَّهُ وَ يُوَحَّدُ وَ بِالْعِلْمِ تُوصَلُ الْأَرْحَامُ وَ بِهِ يُعْرَفُ الْحَلَالُ وَ الْحَرَامُ وَ الْعِلْمُ إِمَامُ الْعَقْلِ وَ الْعَقْلُ تَابِعُهُ يُلْهِمُهُ اللَّهُ السُّعَدَاءَ وَ يَحْرِمُهُ الْأَشْقِيَاءَ.

«7»- li, the Amali of al-Saduq: my father, from Sa'id, from al-Yaqtini, from Yusuf b. 'Abd al-Rahman, from al-Hasan b. Ziyad al-'Attar, from Ibn Tarif, from Ibn Nubata, who said: The Commander of the Faithful 'Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon them both, said: Learn knowledge; for the learning of it is a good deed, and the studying of it is a glorification, and the searching into it is a striving, and the teaching of it to one who does not know it is a charity. And it is an intimate in desolation, and a companion in solitude, and a weapon against enemies, and the adornment of friends. By it God raises up peoples and makes them leaders in good, followed as examples; their deeds are watched and their traces are taken as a light. The angels desire their friendship and stroke them with their wings in their prayers — because knowledge is the life of hearts, and the light of eyes from blindness, and the strength of bodies from weakness. And God settles its bearer in the stations of the righteous and grants him the company of the best in this world and in the hereafter. By knowledge God is obeyed and worshipped; and by knowledge God is known and declared one; and by knowledge the ties of kinship are joined; and by it the lawful and the unlawful are known. And knowledge is the leader of the intellect, and the intellect is its follower. God inspires it in the felicitous and withholds it from the wretched.

«8»- ل، الخصال أَبِي عَنْ سَعْدٍ عَنِ الْيَقْطِينِيِّ عَنْ جَمَاعَةٍ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ رَفَعُوهُ إِلَى أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

«8»- l, al-Khisal: my father, from Sa'd, from al-Yaqtini, from a group of his companions, raising it to the Commander of the Faithful,