فقلت له أما قول اللّٰه فَاعْتَبِرُوا يا أُولِي الْأَبْصارِ فليس لك حجة على موضع القياس لأن اللّٰه تعالى ذكر أمر اليهود و جنايتهم على أنفسهم في تخريب بيوتهم بأيديهم و أيدي المؤمنين ما يستدل به على حقية رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله و أن اللّٰه تعالى أمده بالتوفيق و نصره و خذل عدوه و أمر الناس باعتبار ذلك ليزدادوا بصيرة في الإيمان و ليس هذا بقياس في المشروعات و لا فيه أمر بالتعويل على الظنون في استنباط الأحكام.

I said to him in answer: As for God's word, Mighty and Majestic, "So take heed, O you who have eyes" — it is no proof for you concerning analogy, for God the Exalted gave an account of the state of the Jews and of their crime against themselves in the destruction of their houses by their own hands and the hands of the believers; and this is a proof of the truth of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and that God granted him success and aided him and crushed his enemy, and He told people to take heed from it so that their insight in faith might increase. And this has nothing to do with analogy in the rulings of the law, and is no proof for relying upon probability in deriving rulings.

و أما قوله سبحانه يَحْكُمُ بِهِ ذَوا عَدْلٍ مِنْكُمْ ليس فيه أن العدلين يحكمان في جزاء الصيد بالقياس و إنما تعبد اللّٰه عباده بإنفاذ الحكم في الجزاء عند حكم العدلين بما علماه من نص اللّٰه تعالى و لو كان حكمهما قياسا لكانا إذا حكما في جزاء النعامة بالبدنة قد قاسا مع وجود النص بذلك فيجب أن يتأمل هذا.

And as for God's saying "Then a recompense of the like of what he killed, of the cattle, as two just men among you shall judge" — it does not indicate that the two just men judge in the expiation for game by analogy. It is only that God has bound His servants to carry out the ruling of the expiation by the judgement of two just men who know it from the text of God the Exalted. And if their judgement were by analogy, then since in the expiation for the game of an ostrich they would rule a camel, they would have had to use analogy — whereas its ruling has come in the text of a report. So one must reflect upon it.

و أما الخبران اللذان أوردتهما فهما من أخبار الآحاد التي لا تثبت بهما الأصول المعلومة في العبادات على أن رواة خبر معاذ مجهولون و هم في لفظه أيضا مختلفون فمنهم

And as for the two reports you have brought, they are among the single reports by which the known principles in matters of worship are not established and upon which no reliance is placed; moreover the men of the chain of the report of Mu'adh are unknown and obscure, and they also differ in its wording.

رَوَى أَنَّهُ لَمَّا قَالَ أَجْتَهِدُ رَأْيِي قَالَ لَهُ عليه السلام لَا اكْتُبْ إِلَيَّ أَكْتُبْ إِلَيْكَ.

And some have related that when Mu'adh said "I shall exert my own opinion", he, peace be upon him, said: I do not like it. Write to me and I shall write back to you.

و لو سلمنا صيغة الخبر على ما ذكرت لاحتمل أن يكون معنى أجتهد رأيي أني أجتهد حتى أجد حكم اللّٰه تعالى في الحادثة من الكتاب و السنة.

And even if we accept the wording of the report, it is possible that what is meant is: I shall strive with my own thought to obtain the ruling of that case from the Qur'an or from the practice.

و أما رواية الحسن عليه السلام ففيه تصحيف ممن رواه و الخبر المعروف

And as for what you related from al-Hasan b. 'Ali, peace be upon them, concerning the basis of the Commander of the Faithful's judgement, peace be upon him, it has suffered a textual corruption; and what is well known in the text of the report is this:

أَنَّهُ قَالَ: فَإِنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ شَيْئاً فِي السُّنَّةِ زَجَرَ فَأَصَابَ.

that he said: If he found nothing in the practice, he cast lots and hit the mark;

يعني بذلك القرعة بالسهام و هو مأخوذ من الزجر و الفال و القرعة عندنا من الأحكام المنصوص عليها و ليست بداخلة في القياس و الآيات و الأخبار دالة على نفيه١ قال اللّٰه تعالى وَ مَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِما أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُولئِكَ هُمُ الْكافِرُونَ ٢» لسنا نشك أن الحكم بالقياس حكم بغير التنزيل و قال سبحانه وَ لا تَقُولُوا لِما تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ هذا حَلالٌ وَ هذا حَرامٌ لِتَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ٣و مستخرج الحكم في الحادثة بالقياس لا يصح أن يضيفه إلى اللّٰه و لا إلی رسوله و إذا لم يصح إضافته إليهما فإنما هو مضاف إلى القائس و هو المحلل و المحرم في الشرع من عنده و كذب

and what he means by that is the drawing of lots with arrows, and in our view the drawing of lots is among the rulings of the law on which a text has come and is not of the kind of analogy. And it has become clear to you that in the verses and reports you brought there is no proof for your claim; for the evidences for the falsity of analogy and the prohibition of it from the Qur'an and from sound reports are many: God, Mighty and Majestic, said: "And those who do not judge by what God has sent down — they are the unbelievers." And we have no doubt that judging by analogy is judging contrary to "what God has sent down".