الجاثية: «وَ ما لَهُمْ بِذلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ»(23)

"And they have no knowledge of this [matter] [and] they follow nothing but [the way of] conjecture."

الحجرات: «إِنْ جاءَكُمْ فاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَنْ تُصِيبُوا قَوْماً بِجَهالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلى ما فَعَلْتُمْ نادِمِينَ»(6)

"O you who believe, if a transgressor brings you news, verify it carefully, lest you harm a people in ignorance and then become regretful at what you have done."

النجم: «إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَ إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئاً»(28)

al-Najm: "And they have no knowledge of this [matter]. They follow nothing but their own conjecture, and truly conjecture avails nothing in [attaining] the truth."

«1»- قَالَ الشَّيْخُ الطَّبْرِسِيُّ فِي كِتَابِ الْإِحْتِجَاجَاتِ، رُوِيَ عَنِ الصَّادِقِ عليه السلام أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله قَالَ: مَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فَالْعَمَلُ بِهِ لَازِمٌ وَ لَا عُذْرَ لَكُمْ فِي تَرْكِهِ وَ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ كَانَ فِي سُنَّةٍ مِنِّي ١ فَلَا عُذْرَ لَكُمْ فِي تَرْكِ سُنَّتِي وَ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ فِيهِ سُنَّةٌ مِنِّي فَمَا قَالَ أَصْحَابِي فَقُولُوا بِهِ٢ فَإِنَّمَا مَثَلُ أَصْحَابِي فِيكُمْ كَمَثَلِ النُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهَا أُخِذَ اهْتَدَى ٣وَ بِأَيِّ أَقَاوِيلِ أَصْحَابِي أَخَذْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ وَ اخْتِلَافُ أَصْحَابِي لَكُمْ رَحْمَةٌ قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَنْ أَصْحَابُكَ قَالَ أَهْلُ بَيْتِي.

Kitab al-Ihtijajat: Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, related from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, that he said: Whatever you find in the Book of God, act upon it, and you have no excuse for abandoning it; and whatever is not in the Qur'an is in my practice and way, and acting upon it is obligatory and may not be abandoned; and whatever is not in my practice — act upon what my companions have said, for whichever of their words you take, you will be guided; and the disagreement of my companions is a mercy for you. Someone asked: O Messenger of God, who are your companions? He said: My People of the House.

قال محمد بن الحسين بن بابويه القمي رضوان اللّٰه عليه إن أهل البيت لا يختلفون و لكن يفتون الشيعة بمر الحق و ربما أفتوهم بالتقية فما يختلف من قولهم فهو للتقية و التقية رحمة للشيعة.

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, may God have mercy on him, says: Doubtless the People of the House do not disagree; rather they give the Shi'a rulings according to the pure truth, and sometimes their rulings are by way of dissimulation; and the root of the disagreement is this very matter of dissimulation in speech — and dissimulation is a mercy for the Shi'a.

- أقول روى الصدوق في كتاب معاني الأخبار عن ابن الوليد عن الصفار عن الخشاب عن ابن كلوب عن إسحاق بن عمار عن الصادق عن آبائه عليهم السلام إلى آخر ما نقل و رواه الصفار في البصائر ثم قال الطبرسي رحمه اللّٰه و يؤيد تأويله رضي اللّٰه عنه أخبار كثيرة

I say: Al-Shaykh al-Saduq related that hadith in Kitab Ma'ani al-Akhbar from Ibn al-Walid, from al-Saffar, from Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him; and likewise al-Saffar in al-Basa'ir. Al-Tabarsi says: In support of that great shaykh's interpretation many reports have come.

مِنْهَا مَا رَوَاهُ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سِنَانٍ عَنْ نَصْرٍ الْخَثْعَمِيِّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام يَقُولُ مَنْ عَرَفَ مِنْ أَمْرِنَا أَنْ لَا نَقُولَ إِلَّا حَقّاً فَلْيَكْتَفِ بِمَا يَعْلَمُ مِنَّا فَإِنْ سَمِعَ مِنَّا خِلَافَ مَا يَعْلَمُ فَلْيَعْلَمْ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنَّا دِفَاعٌ وَ اخْتِيَارٌ لَهُ ٤

One of those reports is what Muhammad b. Sinan related from Nasr al-Khath'ami, who said: I heard Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, saying: Whoever knows our cause well enough to know that we say nothing but the truth — what he knows of us suffices him; and if he hears from us something contrary to what he knew (a word apparently not true), this is a defence for us and a choice for him.

وَ عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ حَنْظَلَةَ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام عَنْ رَجُلَيْنِ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا بَيْنَهُمَا

'Umar b. Hanzala says: I asked Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: Two men of our own companions