الكافي- ط الاسلامية, volume 1, page 428

Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad has narrated from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from Bastam ibn Murra from ishaq ibn Hassa’n from al-Haytham ibn Waqid from Ali ibn al-Husayn al-‘Abdi from Sa‘d al-’Iskaf from Asbagh ibn Nabata that he asked Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most High. “. . to give thanks to Me first and then to them, (parents) to Me all things proceed [31:14] .The Imam (a.s.) said, “The parents who must be thanked are the ones who provide knowledge, and leave wisdom as their legacy and people are commanded to obey them. Allah then has said, “. . to Me all things proceed.” [31:14] People proceed to Allah and the guide to such goal are the parents. Allah then has directed His words to ibn Hantama and his friend saying in particular and in general, “If they try to force you to consider things equal to Me,. .” [31:15] It speaks of the will of The Holy Prophet (s.a). It demands not to ignore the command to obey him (Ali (a.s.) otherwise, do not obey them (parents) and do not listen to them. Then Allah has directed His words to the parents. “Maintain lawful relations with them in this world. .” [31:15] It says that propagate the virtue and excellence of the (spiritual) parents and call people to their guidance which is also mentioned in these words of Allah. “. . and follow the path of those who turn in repentance to Me. To Me you will all return. .” [31:15] The Imam (a.s.) said, “To Allah then to us. You must be pious before Allah and do not disobey the parents. To please them is to please Allah and to cause them anger is to cause anger to Allah.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

78. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Sayf from his father from ‘Amr ibn Harith who has said the following. “I asked abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) about the words of Allah. “. . a blessed tree which has firm roots and branches rising up into the sky.” (14:24) The Imam (a.s.) said that the The Holy Prophet (s.a) said, “The root is Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) and the branches are the Imams from their (Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.) and The Holy Prophet (s.a) descendants and the knowledge of Imams stand for the fruits. Their faithful followers represent the leaves of such tree.” The Imam (a.s.) asked, “Is there anything else in the tree?” I said, “No, there is nothing else there. The Imam (a.s.) then said, “By Allah, when a faithful is given a child a leave grows in the tree and when a faithful dies a leave falls off the tree.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

79. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Hamdan ibn Sulayman from ‘Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Yamani from Mani‘ ibn al-Hajjaj from Yunus from Hisham ibn al-Hakam from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most gracious. “. . the belief of any soul will be of no avail to it unless some good deeds have been done with it. .” (6:158) The Imam (a.s.) said, “It means to acknowledge the prophets and the executors of their wills especially Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.).” The Imam (a.s.) said, “The faith of a soul will not be of any benefit because it will be removed.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.