If it was not for them...

If it was not for them, the people would have [been punished with] various punishments due to their hideous deeds. As Allah, the Exalted, declares, ‘Allah will not punish them while you are with them’ (Quran 8:33).

We have experienced many times in affairs which we reached a dead end, in difficult issues, in times when we became distant from [Allah], the Exalted, and when the doors of grace were closed, then, when we sought their intercession and implored [through] their lights—proportional to our spiritual connection with them in that time—the problems were solved. This has been experienced by those whom Allah has decorated the eyes of their hearts with the light of faith.

We have already explained this in the Book of Imamate [in Biḥār al-anwār]. Just as the people long for the sun to be uncovered so that they benefit more from it compared to when it is covered with clouds, likewise, during his occultation, the sincere Shias…