So, let the scrutinizer roam with his wide open eyes to see...

So, let the scrutinizer roam with his wide open eyes to see clearly, because thinking is the life of the discerning heart, like the enlightened one who walks with light in the dark.”[^7] The Imām means that as man needs common light to see his way in the dark so as not to fall over in a precipice, with the Qur'an, which is the light that guides and the torch which lights the road of gnosticism and faith, he is to advance on the dark road to the Hereafter and to Allah so as not to tumble down into devastating precipices.

In Ma'āniy 'ul-Akhbār there is a hadīth from Imām 'Alī (' a ) saying: “The true jurisprudent is the one who would not leave the Qur'an reluctantly and turn to something else.

Beware that there is no good in a knowledge without understanding; there is no good in the reciting without contemplation; and there is no good in a worship without deep knowledge of it.”[^8] In al-Khisāl and Ma'āniy 'ul-Akhbār , the Messenger of Allah ( s ) is quoted to have said: “The bearers of the Qur'an are the informed ones [' urafā ] among the people of Paradise.”[^9] It is obvious what is meant by “the bearers” of the Qur'an.

It means the bearers of the Qur'anic knowledge and teachings, the result of which in the Hereafter is to regard them among the learned and the people of heart.

To merely bear the external form of the Qur'an, without getting its lessons and being benefited by its teachings, and to convey its knowledge and admonitions, without putting its precepts and laws into application, would be like that which is said by Allah, the Exalted: “ The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Torah, yet they apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books.” [^10] Noble hadīth s on the Glorious Qur'an, its affairs and disciplines are too many to be contained in this small book.

Peace be upon Muhammad and his progeny. [^1]: Usūl al-Kāfī ,vol. 4,p. 394, “Book of the Merits of the Qur'an,” ch. 1, hadīth 1. [^3]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 400, “Book of the Merits of the Qur'an,” ch. 1, hadīth 4. [^4]: Ibid., hadīth 14. [^5]: Sūrah Tā-Hā 20:125-6. [^6]: 'Iqāb al-A'māl, pp. 332, 337 and 366. [^7]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p.400, “Book on the Merits of the Qur'an,” ch. 1, hadīth 5. [^8]: Ma'āniy 'ul-Akhbār, p. 226, ch. on “The Meaning of the True Jurisprudent,” hadīth 1.

[^9]: Ma'aniy 'ul-Akhbar, p. 323, ch. on “The Meaning of the Informed Ones of the People of Paradise,” hadīth 1; Al-Khisāl, vo1.1, p. 28, ch. on “The One,” hadīth 100.