And the difference (in readings) is due only on account of...

And the difference (in readings) is due only on account of different transmitters (rawi, plural ruwat). Wherever there occurs in the Qur'an the like of the saying of Him Who is Exalted above all: “If thou ascribe a partner to Allah thy work will fail and thou indeed will be among the losers!” (Qur'an 39:65) .

Or the like of His saying: “That Allah may forgive thee (O Muhammad) of thy sin that which is past and that which is to come” (Qur'an 48:2) .[^7] Or like His saying: “And if We had not made thee wholly firm thou mightest almost have inclined unto them a little. Then had We made thee taste a double (punishment) of living and a double (punishment) of dying.....” (Qur'an 17:74-75).

And verses resembling these - our belief concerning them is that they were revealed within the meaning of (the well-known proverb) - “Thee do I mean (O beloved), but hear, O (thou) neighboring lady”.[^8] And wherever there occurs in the Qur'an the particle aw , that is, “or”, the person to whom the ordinance refers has an option.

And wherever there occurs in the Qur'an the expression ya *ayyuha'1-ladhina amanu “*O you who believe”, this is in lieu of the expression in the Torah, ya *ayyuha'l-masakin, “*O you miserable ones”. Every verse of the Qur'an, which begins with the expression ya ayyuha'l-ladhina amanu (“O you who believe”), refers necessarily to 'Ali bin Abi Talib as their leader (qa'id) and prince (amir) and the most noble and the first among them.

And every verse which directs the way to Paradise applies to the Prophet or the Imams, the blessings of Allah upon them all and their partisans and followers. And every verse which points the way to Hell refers to their enemies and opponents. If the verses deal with the account of those mentioned earlier (i.e. Prophets and Imams) then whatever of good there is in them will be applicable to the righteous; and whatever of evil, to the evildoers.

Among the prophets none is better than the , the blessings of Allah upon him, and among the awsiya' (plenipotentiaries) none is better than his (the Prophet's) plenipotentiaries[^9], and among the communities none in reality is more excellent than this community - the partisans (Shi'a) of the People of his (Prophet's) House, and none else.