3. Muhammad ibn Yahya and Ahmad ibn Muhammad both have narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Hassan from Ali ibn Hassaan who has said that abu ‘Abdallah al-Riyahi narrated to him from abu al-Samit al-Hulwani from abu Ja‘far عليه السلام who said: “A merit of Amir al-Mu'mineen عليه السلام is that whatever he has brought, I follow it entirely, and whatever he has forbidden, I desist from it altogether. It flows for him from the obedience after the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, what flowed for the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, and the merit is for Muhammad صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم. The one who tries to be ahead of him would be considered as trying to be ahead of Allah and his Messenger. And the one who tries to show himself as more virtuous than him would be considered as trying to show himself as more virtuous than the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم. And the rejector upon him regarding a small or big (matter) would be within the limits of shirk to Allah.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم is a Door of Allah which one cannot come to Him except from it, and His Way which the one who travels it arrives to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. The same was true of Ami al-Mu'mineen عليه السلام after him (Muhammad), and it flowed for the Imams (peace be upon them), one after one. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has made them the cornerstone of the earth so that its inhabitants would not be destroyed, and they were the pillars of Islam and the connection in the path of guidance. No guide can be a guide except their guidance, nor would one stray outside from the guidance except by being deficient in their rights.
They are the trustees of Allah over whatever knowledge, warning, and excuses that have been revealed to them. They possess the doubtless Divine authority over those on earth. It flows for the last of them from Allah similar to which flowed for their first one, and no one would arrive to that except by the Assistance of Allah. And Amir al-Mu’minin عليه السلام has said, “I am the distributor for Allah between Paradise and Hell. None can enter it except upon a limit of my distribution, and I am the greatest criterion, and the Imam for those after me, and the communicator on behalf of those before me. No one precedes me except Ahmad صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم. I and he are on one path, except that he is the one called by his name.
And I have been given six things: the knowledge of deaths, that of the tribulations, that of the wills, and decisive sermons, and I am the owner of the spheres and a state of the states, and I am the owner of the Staff and the Branding iron, and the Beast (27:82) who would be speaking to the people."