Then the author of the book said: The Zaydis claim that Imamate is permissible for all members of the ʿitrah (the Prophet’s family), because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ indicated them in general without specifying some over others, and based on Allah’s statement about them, which they unanimously interpret as referring exclusively to the ʿitrah: “Then We caused to inherit the Book those of Our servants whom We have chosen.” I say—by Allah’s guidance—the author of the book erred in what he reported, for the Zaydis only permit Imamate for the descendants of al-Hasan and al-Husayn specifically. As for the word ʿitrah in the Arabic language, it refers to the paternal uncle and his sons, the nearest of kin. It has never been known from any linguistic authority, nor reported by anyone that ʿitrah is limited only to the children of a daughter from her cousin. This is something the Zaydis wished for and used to deceive themselves. They made a solitary claim with no evidence or proof. What they assert has no basis in reason, the Qur'an, prophetic reports, or in any known language. This is the Arabic language, and here are its people—ask them, and they will inform you that ʿitrah in language refers to the nearest kin through paternal uncles and their sons.

If the author of the book says: Why then do you claim that Imamate is not valid for so-and-so and his offspring, while they are from the ʿitrah according to you? We say: We did not say this based on analogy, but in following what the Prophet ﷺ did with these three, and not with others from the ʿitrah. Had he done with so-and-so what he did with them, we would have responded with nothing but obedience and submission.

As for his statement: “Allah the Exalted said, ‘Then We caused to inherit the Book those of Our servants whom We have chosen,’” it is said to him: Your own opponents among the Muʿtazilah and others have disagreed with you in the interpretation of this verse, and so have the Imamiyyah. You know well who the “foremost in good deeds” are according to the Imamiyyah. At the very least—since you authored this book to clarify the truth and call to it—you were required to support your claim with proof, or at least persuasion, or otherwise avoid citing what you cannot demonstrate as a proof in your favor rather than your opponents’. For reciting the Qur'an and claiming its interpretation without evidence is something anyone can do.

Indeed, our opponents—and yours—have claimed that Allah’s words: “You are the best nation raised up for mankind,” refer to all scholars of the ummah, and that the status of the scholars of the ʿitrah is no different from that of the Murjiʾah. They say that consensus cannot be formed and proof is not established through the knowledge of the ʿitrah alone. So is there a distinction you can make between yourself and them? Do you accept their claim as it stands, or do you ask them for proof? If he says: I ask them for proof, then we say to him: Bring your own proof first—that the intended meaning in the verse you recited is the ʿitrah, that the ʿitrah are the progeny, and that the progeny are exclusively the descendants of al-Hasan and al-Husayn , and not others among the descendants of Jaʿfar or those whose mothers were Fāṭimiyyāt.