يُمَيِّزُونَ بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا أَمَانِيَّ أَيْ إِلَّا أَنْ يُقْرَأَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ يُقَالَ هَذَا كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَ كَلَامُهُ لَا يَعْرِفُونَ إنْ قُرِئَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ خِلَافُ مَا فِيهِ وَ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ أَيْ مَا يَقْرَأُ عَلَيْهِمْ رُؤَسَاؤُهُمْ مِنْ تَكْذِيبِ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله فِي نُبُوَّتِهِ وَ إِمَامَةِ عَلِيٍّ عليه السلام سَيِّدِ عِتْرَتِهِ عليه السلام وَ هُمْ يُقَلِّدُونَهُمْ مَعَ أَنَّهُ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيْهِمْ تَقْلِيدُهُمْ فَوَيْلٌ لِلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتابَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هذا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ لِيَشْتَرُوا بِهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلًا قَالَ عليه السلام قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى هَذَا الْقَوْمُ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ كَتَبُوا صِفَةً زَعَمُوا أَنَّهَا صِفَةُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ هِيَ خِلَافُ صِفَتِهِ وَ قَالُوا لِلْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنْهُمْ هَذِهِ صِفَةُ النَّبِيِّ الْمَبْعُوثِ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ أَنَّهُ طَوِيلٌ عَظِيمُ الْبَدَنِ وَ الْبَطْنِ أَصْهَبُ الشَّعْرِ وَ مُحَمَّدٌ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله بِخِلَافِهِ وَ هُوَ يَجِي ءُ بَعْدَ هَذَا الزَّمَانِ بِخَمْسِمِائَةِ سَنَةٍ وَ إِنَّمَا أَرَادُوا بِذَلِكَ لِتَبْقَى لَهُمْ عَلَى ضُعَفَائِهِمْ رِئَاسَتُهُمْ وَ تَدُومَ لَهُمْ إِصَابَاتُهُمْ وَ يَكُفُّوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ مَئُونَةَ خِدْمَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ خِدْمَةِ عَلِیٍّ عليه السلام وَ أَهْلِ خَاصَّتِهِ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فَوَيْلٌ لَهُمْ مِمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَ وَيْلٌ لَهُمْ مِمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ مِنْ هَذِهِ الصِّفَاتِ الْمُحَرَّفَاتِ الْمُخَالِفَاتِ لِصِفَةِ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ عَلِیٍّ عليه السلام الشِّدَّةُ لَهُمْ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ فِي أَسْوَءِ بِقَاعِ جَهَنَّمَ وَ وَيْلٌ لَهُمْ الشِّدَّةُ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ ثَانِيَةً مُضَافَةً إِلَى الْأُولَى مِمَّا يَكْسِبُونَهُ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ الَّتِي يَأْخُذُونَهَا إِذَا ثَبَّتُوا أعوامهم [عَوَامَّهُمْ عَلَى الْكُفْرِ بِمُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ الْجَحْدِ لِوَصِيِّهِ أَخِيهِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ وَلِيِّ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ عليه السلام قَالَ رَجُلٌ لِلصَّادِقِ عليه السلام فَإِذَا كَانَ هَؤُلَاءِ الْقَوْمُ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ لَا يَعْرِفُونَ الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا بِمَا يَسْمَعُونَهُ مِنْ عُلَمَائِهِمْ لَا سَبِيلَ لَهُمْ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ فَكَيْفَ ذَمَّهُمْ بِتَقْلِيدِهِمْ وَ الْقَبُولِ مِنْ عُلَمَائِهِمْ وَ هَلْ عَوَامُّ الْيَهُودِ إِلَّا كَعَوَامِّنَا يُقَلِّدُونَ عُلَمَاءَهُمْ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَجُزْ لِأُولَئِكَ الْقَبُولُ مِنْ عُلَمَائِهِمْ لَمْ يَجُزْ لِهَؤُلَاءِ الْقَبُولُ مِنْ عُلَمَائِهِمْ فَقَالَ عليه السلام بَيْنَ عَوَامِّنَا وَ عُلَمَائِنَا وَ بَيْنَ عَوَامِّ الْيَهُودِ وَ عُلَمَائِهِمْ فَرْقٌ مِنْ جِهَةٍ وَ تَسْوِيَةٌ مِنْ جِهَةٍ أَمَّا مِنْ حَيْثُ اسْتَوَوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ ذَمَّ عَوَامَّنَا بِتَقْلِيدِهِمْ عُلَمَاءَهُمْ كَمَا ذَمَّ عَوَامَّهُمْ وَ أَمَّا مِنْ حَيْثُ افْتَرَقُوا فَلَا قَالَ بَيِّنْ لِي يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ قَالَ عليه السلام إِنَّ عَوَامَّ الْيَهُودِ كَانُوا قَدْ عَرَفُوا عُلَمَاءَهُمْ بِالْكَذِبِ الصَّرِيحِ وَ بِأَكْلِ الْحَرَامِ وَ الرِّشَاءِ وَ بِتَغْيِيرِ الْأَحْكَامِ عَنْ وَاجِبِهَا بِالشَّفَاعَاتِ وَ الْعِنَايَاتِ وَ الْمُصَانَعَاتِ وَ عَرَفُوهُمْ بِالتَّعَصُّبِ الشَّدِيدِ الَّذِي يُفَارِقُونَ بِهِ أَدْيَانَهُمْ وَ أَنَّهُمْ إِذَا تَعَصَّبُوا أَزَالُوا حُقُوقَ مَنْ تَعَصَّبُوا عَلَيْهِ وَ أَعْطَوْا مَا لَا يَسْتَحِقُّهُ مَنْ تَعَصَبُّوا لَهُ مِنْ أَمْوَالِ غَيْرِهِمْ وَ ظَلَمُوهُمْ مِنْ أَجْلِهِمْ وَ عَرَفُوهُمْ يُقَارِفُونَ الْمُحَرَّمَاتِ وَ اضْطُرُّوا

do not tell apart. "Except as wishful fancies": that is, only the matters their chiefs have recited into their ears — the denial of Muhammad, may God bless him and his family, in his prophethood and of the imamate of 'Ali, peace be upon him, the master of his progeny — and tells them: this is the Book and the speech of God; and if something other than it were recited to them, they would not know it. They only imitate their chiefs, although imitating such leaders had been forbidden them. "So woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say: This is from God, that they may buy with it a paltry price." He said: These were the people of the Jews. Of their own accord they wrote down a description which they claimed belonged to Muhammad, though it was contrary to his characteristics, and said to the weak among their people: This is the description of the Prophet of the Last Age: he is a tall man, thick-set, with a large belly, a heavy neck and a red beard (or: whiteness in the hair of his head) — whereas the Prophet was the opposite of all this — and that he will come five hundred years after this time. By uttering these fabrications they intended nothing but to preserve their own leadership over those weak ones and to continue their hold over them, and to keep themselves from the trouble of serving the Messenger, may God bless him and his family, and of serving 'Ali, peace be upon him, and the People of the House, peace be upon them, and his intimates. So God, mighty and exalted, said: "So woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for what they earn." "And woe to them" — the severity of the punishment a second time, over and above the first — for the wealth they take when they hold their own common folk firm in unbelief towards Muhammad the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and in denial of his successor and brother 'Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, the friend of God. Then he said: A man said to Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: If these Jewish men know of the Torah only what they hear from their own scholars, then no way remains open to them but that; so how has God reproached them for imitating and accepting from their scholars? And is it not so that the common folk of the Jews imitate their scholars just as our common folk do? He said: Between our common folk and our scholars and the common folk and scholars of the Jews there is in one respect a difference, and in another respect they are alike. As for the respect in which the two are alike, it is that God has censured our common folk for imitating their scholars just as He reproached the common folk and the scholars of the Jews; but as for the respect in which they differ, no. The man said: O son of the Messenger of God, explain this matter to me. He, peace be upon him, said: The common folk of the Jews knew plainly of their scholars' lying, of their consuming what is forbidden and of bribery, and of their changing the rulings and obligations of their religion through intercession, favour, flattery and fawning; and they knew them by the fierce partisanship which was not in their religion, and knew that whenever they gave rein to that partisanship they destroyed the rights of the very people they were partisan for, and gave away wealth wrongfully, and wronged them for the sake of those same people. And they knew well that their scholars reached out for the forbidden, and inevitably