It would have been wiser for those who are not well-equip-...

It would have been wiser for those who are not well-equip- ped for such a task to deal with the subject without applying any discussion. What Abu Ja‘far, may Allah have mercy upon him, maintained about spirits and souls is unwittingly the actual doctrine of transmigration. So, he committed a fearful crime against himself and others. As for his opinion regarding the perpetuity of the soul, it is, indeed, a statement to be castigated, since it contradicts the plain meaning of the Qur’an.

Allah, the Almighty, says: All that dwells upon the earth is transient, and none endures for ever but the Face of thy Lord, Majestic, and Splendid [55:26-27]. Thus, what he narrated and erroneously assumed is, in fact, the doctrine of the majority of the heretical philosophers who maintain the eternity of the soul and its incorruptibility and perpetuity, and advocate the opinion that the soul abides, and that it is only the body that undergoes degeneration and corruption.

The same opinion was held by some of the adherents of transmigration, who claim that souls recur perpetually in different forms and bodies, and that neither are they contingent nor will they corrupt or be annihilated. This is one of the most monstrous claims and far removed from the truth. Comparable to it in wickedness and error is the charge of the Nasibah[^3] (that)[^4] these are the real doctrines of all the Shi‘ah; on the strength of which they brand them with heresy.

Thus, if those who gave authority to such traditions had been aware of the dangers that lay in them, they would never have affirmed them. However, the indiscriminating of our companions, who are incapable of accurate judgment and sound comprehension, often accept the traditions at their face value without checking their authority, and do not distinguish between the true and the absurd without realizing what follows from accepting them or comprehending the real meaning of what they affirm.

What has been affirmed by (genuine) traditions in this respect is that souls after death are of two kinds: those which proceed to reward or punishment; and those which are abolished and therefore known neither reward nor punishment. A tradition has been related from as-Sadiq, peace be upon him, which confirms and clarifies this interpretation. He was asked: "What will happen to the spirit of the dead?