Ask me regarding the Imamate of this one -asws ’. So Hisham got angered to the extent that he trembled, then said to the Syrian, ‘O you! Is your Lord -azwj Watching over His -azwj creatures or are the creatures watching out for themselves?’ So the Syrian said, ‘But, my Lord -azwj Looks after His -azwj creatures’.
He said, ‘So what is that which He -azwj Does by His -azwj Look out for them?’ He said, ‘He -azwj Established a Divine Authority and evidence, lest they be disunited or differ, so he would unite them and inform them of the Impositions of their Lord -azwj ’.
قَالَ فَمَنْ هُوَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ( صلى الله عليه وآله ) قَالَ هِشَامٌ فَبَعْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ( صلى الله عليه وآله ) قَالَ الْكِتَابُ وَ السُّنَّةُ قَالَ هِشَامٌ فَهَلْ نَفَعَنَا الْيَوْمَ الْكِتَابُ وَ السُّنَّةُ فِي رَفْعِ الِاخْتِلَافِ عَنَّا قَالَ الشَّامِيُّ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَلِمَ اخْتَلَفْنَا أَنَا وَ أَنْتَ وَ صِرْتَ إِلَيْنَا مِنَ الشَّامِ فِي مُخَالَفَتِنَا إِيَّاكَ He (Hisham) said, ‘So who is he?’ He said, ‘Rasool-Allah -saww ’.
Hisham said, ‘So, after Rasool-Allah -saww ?’ He said, ‘The Book and the Sunnah’. Hisham said, ‘So would the Book and the Sunnah benefit us today in sorting out the differing from us?’ The Syrian said, ‘Yes’.