Marhum Majlisi says...

Marhum Majlisi says: The Shi’ah have offered various views regarding the explanation ( tawil ) of this verse. According to one of these, the ‘sins’ ( dhunub; singular dhanb ) mentioned there mean the sins of the Ummah which are forgiven by the Prophet’s intercession. These sins of the Ummah have been attributed to him because of the connection that exists between him and it.

However, Allah, subhanahu, has insured that He would forgive the sins, whatever they have committed, of those who followed ‘Ali (shi’at ‘Ali).” وَرَوَى عُمَرُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ عَنْهُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ قَالَ: مَا كَانَ لَهُ ذَنْبٌ وَلا هَمَّ بِذَنْبٍ وَلَكِنَّ اللهَ حَمَّلَهُ ذُنُوبَ شِيعَتِهِ ثُمَّ غَفَرَهَا لَهُ. ‘Umar ibn Yazid narrates that Imam al-Sadiq (A) said, “He had not committed any sin, not even intended to commit any.

However, God made him bear the burden of the sins of his followers and then forgave them on his account.”[^2] This author says: This explanation has a significant basis in the teaching of the ‘urafa’ and it would not be without benefit to mention it briefly. You should know that it has been proved, in the place proper to such a proof, that the unchanging essence ( ‘ayn al-thabit ) of the Perfect Man ( insan al-kamil ) is the manifestation ( mazhar; pl.

mazahir ) of the Greatest of Divine Names ( ism Allah al- a’zam ) , which is the prototype ( imam ) of all prototypal names. The essences ( a’yan ) of all other existents subsist in the shadow of the essence of the Perfect Man on the level of knowledge and the world of essences, and exist therein on the level of being and the world of realization ( ‘alam al-tahaqquq ) .

Hence, the essences contained in the entire realm of existence are the manifestation of the essence of the Perfect Man, and all the existents are manifestations of his beauty and glory in the world of manifestation.