محمد: «أَ فَمَنْ كانَ عَلى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّهِ كَمَنْ زُيِّنَ لَهُ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَ اتَّبَعُوا أَهْواءَهُمْ»(14)

Muhammad: "Is one who is upon a clear proof from his Lord like one to whom the evil of his deed has been made to seem fair and who have followed their own desires?"

النجم: «إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَ ما تَهْوَى الْأَنْفُسُ وَ لَقَدْ جاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدى»(23)

"[These idols] are nothing but names that you and your fathers have named, for which God has sent down no authority. [They] follow nothing but conjecture and what their souls desire, although guidance has certainly come to them from their Lord."

«1»- نهج، نهج البلاغة ج، الإحتجاج رُوِیَ عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عليه السلام أَنَّهُ قَالَ: تَرِدُ عَلَى أَحَدِهِمُ الْقَضِيَّةُ فِي حُكْمٍ مِنَ الْأَحْكَامِ فَيَحْكُمُ فِيهَا بِرَأْيِهِ ثُمَّ تَرِدُ تِلْكَ الْقَضِيَّةُ بِعَيْنِهَا عَلَى غَيْرِهِ فَيَحْكُمُ فِيهَا بِخِلَافِ قَوْلِهِ ثُمَّ تَجْتَمِعُ الْقُضَاةُ بِذَلِكَ عِنْدَ الْإِمَامِ الَّذِي اسْتَقْضَاهُمْ فَيُصَوِّبُ آرَاءَهُمْ جَمِيعاً وَ إِلَهُهُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَ كِتَابُهُمْ وَاحِدٌ أَ فَأَمَرَهُمُ اللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ بِالاخْتِلَافِ فَأَطَاعُوهُ أَمْ نَهَاهُمْ عَنْهُ فَعَصَوْهُ أَمْ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ دِيناً نَاقِصاً فَاسْتَعَانَ بِهِمْ عَلَى إِتْمَامِهِ أَمْ كَانُوا شُرَكَاءَ لَهُ فَلَهُمْ أَنْ يَقُولُوا وَ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَرْضَی أَمْ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ دِيناً تَامّاً فَقَصَّرَ الرَّسُولُ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله عَنْ تَبْلِيغِهِ وَ أَدَائِهِ وَ اللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ يَقُولُ ما فَرَّطْنا فِي الْكِتابِ مِنْ شَيْ ءٍ وَ فِيهِ تِبْيَانُ كُلِّ شَيْ ءٍ وَ ذَكَرَ أَنَّ الْكِتَابَ يُصَدِّقُ بَعْضُهُ بَعْضاً وَ أَنَّهُ لَا اخْتِلَافَ فِيهِ فَقَالَ سُبْحَانَهُ وَ لَوْ كانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلافاً كَثِيراً وَ إِنَّ الْقُرْآنَ ظَاهِرُهُ أَنِيقٌ وَ بَاطِنُهُ عَمِيقٌ لَا تَفْنَی عَجَائِبُهُ وَ لَا تَنْقَضِي غَرَائِبُهُ وَ لَا تُكْشَفُ الظُّلُمَاتُ إِلَّا بِهِ.

Nahj al-Balagha and al-Ihtijaj: It is related from the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, that he said: A dispute concerning one of the social rulings is brought before a scholar, who issues a ruling by his own opinion. Then the same dispute is brought before another, who gives a ruling exactly contrary to the first one's opinion. Then all the judges gather before their chief who appointed them to judge, and he counts all their opinions as right! — whereas their God is one, their Prophet is one, and their Book is one. Did God, the Glorified, command them to disagree, and they obeyed? Or did He warn them against disagreement, and they disobeyed God? Did God, the Glorified, send down a deficient religion and seek their help in completing it? Are they God's partners, so that they may say whatever they wish in the rulings of religion and God must consent? Did God, the Glorified, send down a complete religion and the Prophet, may God bless him and his family, fall short in conveying it? — while God the Glorified says: "We have not neglected anything in the Book [the Preserved Tablet]." And He said: "And in it is the clarification of all things." And we have mentioned that one part of the Qur'an bears witness to another and that there is no disagreement in it. So God the Glorified said: "Had it been from other than God, they would certainly have found much disagreement in it." Truly the Qur'an has a beautiful outward and a deep, hidden inward; its wonders do not come to an end, its concealed secrets do not reach a limit, and the darknesses will not be dispelled without the Qur'an.

بيان: هذا تشنيع على من يحكم برأيه و عقله من غير رجوع إلى الكتاب و السنة و إلی أئمة الهدى عليهم السلام فإن حقية هذا إنما يكون إما بإله آخر بعثهم أنبياء و أمرهم بعدم الرجوع إلى هذا النبي المبعوث و أوصيائه عليهم السلام أو بأن يكون اللّٰه شرك بينهم و بين النبي صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله في النبوة أو بأن لا يكون اللّٰه عز و جل بين لرسوله صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله جميع ما يحتاج إليه الأمة أو بأن بينه له لكن النبي قصر في تبليغ ذلك و لم يترك بين الأمة أحدا يعلم جميع ذلك و قد أشار عليه السلام إلى بطلان جميع تلك الصور فلم يبق إلا أن يكون بين الأمة من يعرف جميع ذلك و يلزمهم الرجوع إليه في جميع أحكامهم.

This hadith, which is related from the Commander of the Faithful in Nahj al-Balagha, is a rebuke and reproach of one who gives a ruling by his own opinion and reason, without referring to the Book and the practice and to the infallible Imams, peace be upon them. In reality their conduct is on account of this: that either one believes in another god who has chosen prophets and commanded them not to refer to this Prophet and his trustees; or God has made them partners with the Prophet in prophethood; or because God did not state to His Messenger everything that the community needs; or because God stated to His Prophet all the rulings that the community necessarily needs, but the Prophet fell short in conveying those rulings and did not leave anyone among the community who knows all those rulings and has knowledge of them all. And the Commander of the Faithful 'Ali, peace be upon him, held all these cases to be void and pointed to the falsity of all of them. So there remains only one case: that among this community there is someone who knows all those rulings, and that the community must refer to that person who is aware of all the rulings.

و أما الاختلاف الناشئ من الجمع بين الأخبار بوجوه مختلفة أو العمل بالأخبار المتعارضة باختلاف المرجحات التي تظهر لكل عالم بعد بذل جهدهم و عدم تقصيرهم فليس من ذلك في شي ء و قد عرفت ذلك في باب اختلاف الأخبار و يندفع بذلك إذا أمعنت النظر كثير من التشنيعات التي شنعها بعض المتأخرين على أجلة العلماء الأخيار.

As for the disagreement that arises from reconciling reports in different ways, or from acting upon conflicting reports on account of the differing grounds of preference that appear to each scholar after he has exerted his effort and has not fallen short — that is no hard matter, and you came to know it in the chapter on the disagreement of reports. And by this statement, when you look closely, many of the rebukes and reproaches that some later scholars have directed against our great and excellent scholars are repelled.

«2»- ج، الإحتجاج رُوِيَ أَنَّ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ قَالَ: إِنَّ أَبْغَضَ الْخَلَائِقِ إِلَى اللَّهِ

Al-Ihtijaj: It is related that the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, said: Two men are the most hateful of people in God's sight: