So, their deeds are like the ashes at which a violent wind...

So, their deeds are like the ashes at which a violent wind blows on a windy day and it disperses them.”[^3] In another narrative from Imām al-Bāqir, he said: “If a man spent his nights performing the Salat , spent his days fasting, gave out all his wealth in charity, and went to hajj every year of his life, yet he did not know the guardianship of Allah's friend to follow him and return to him in all his deeds, he would have no right to ask Allah, the Glorious and Almighty, for any reward, nor would he be of the people of faith.”[^4] Shaykh as-Sadūq, quoting Abū Hamza ath-Thumālī, says that he said: “Imām 'Alī ibn al-Husayn (' a ) asked us: “Which spot is most preferred?” We said “Allah, His Messenger and the son of His Messenger know better.” He said: “The best of spots for us is that which is situated between the rukn and the maqām (two places in the Ka'bah ).

If some one lives as long as the life of Nūh who lived among his people for a thousand years less fifty and spends it in fasting in daytime and in worshipping at nights in that spot, and then goes to meet Allah without accepting our guardianship, he will not be benefited by it whatsoever.”[^5] The narratives on this topic are too many to be contained in this summary.

The discipline of testifying to the Messengership is to convey to the heart the testimony of the Messenger's being sent by Allah, as well as the greatness of the state of the Messengership, especially that of the Last Messenger, since the whole circle of existence, the invisible and visible worlds, from the viewpoints of creation, legislation, existence, and guidance, are living on the crumbs of his table.

That great man is the means of Allah's Emanation and the connection between Allah and the creatures. Had it not been for his spiritual status [ maqām ] and absolute guardianship, no existing being could have been worthy of being benefited by the state of the Invisible Oneness [ ghayb-i ahadī ], and Allah's grace would not have passed over to any being, and the light of guidance would not have shone onto anyone of the internal and external worlds.

He is the light mentioned in the āyah of Nūr (Light): “ Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.” [^6] When the greatness of the legislator of the religion and of the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds enters a man's heart, the importance of his precepts and rules enter the heart, too.