Appendix 3: Chains of Transmission

Appendix 3: Chains of Transmission

Chains of transmission with quoted narrations:

1. Page 8, Footnote 6. Shaykh al-Kulayni narrated from Ali ibn Ibrahim, who narrated from his father, from al-Nawfali, from al-Sakuni, from Imam Abu Abdullah: Abu Abdullah narrated that the Prophet dispatched a military expedition. When they returned, he said: “Welcome to a people who have completed the lesser striving while the greater striving remains.” They asked, “O Messenger of God, what is the greater striving?” He replied, “The striving of the self.” Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi [The Sufficient], vol. 5, 12.

2. Page 13. Shaykh al-Kulayni narrated in Al-Kafi [The Sufficient] from a number of our companions, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Ali ibn Hadid, from Samaah ibn Mihran, who said: “I was with Abu Abdullah and a group of his followers when the intellect and ignorance were mentioned. Abu Abdullah said: ‘Know the intellect and its soldiers, and know ignorance and its soldiers, so that you may be guided.’

Samaah ibn Mihran said: ‘May I be of service to you-we know only what you have taught us.’ Abu Abdullah said: ‘God, Mighty and Exalted, created the intellect. It was the first creation from among the spiritual beings, created from the right side of the Throne from His light. Then He said to it, ‘Turn back,’ and it turned back. Then He said to it, ‘Come forward,’ and it came forward. God then said: ‘I created you as a great creation, and I have honored you above all My creation.’ Then He created ignorance from the dark, salty sea. He said to it, ‘Turn back,’ and it turned back. Then He said to it, ‘Come forward,’ but it did not come forward. So He said to it: ‘You have acted arrogantly,’ and He cursed it. Then He granted the intellect seventy-five soldiers.

When ignorance saw the honor that God had given the intellect and what He had bestowed upon it, it harbored enmity toward the intellect and said, ‘My Lord, this is a creature like me. You created, honored, and strengthened it, while I am its opposite and have no power against it. So give me soldiers like the soldiers You gave it.’ God said, ‘Yes, but if you disobey after this, I will cast you and your soldiers out of My mercy.’ Ignorance said: ‘I accept.’ So God gave it seventy-five soldiers:

Goodness, which is the minister of the intellect, and its opposite: evil, which is the minister of ignorance.

Faith and its opposite: disbelief.

Affirmation of truth and its opposite: denial.

Hope and its opposite: despair.

Justice and its opposite: injustice.

Contentment and its opposite: wrath.

Gratitude and its opposite: ingratitude.

Aspiration and its opposite: hopelessness.

Reliance upon God and its opposite: greed.

Compassion and its opposite: cruelty.

Mercy and its opposite: anger.

Knowledge and its opposite: ignorance.

Understanding and its opposite: foolishness.

Chastity and its opposite: moral shamelessness.

Asceticism and its opposite: worldly desires.

Gentleness and its opposite: harshness.

Reverent fear and its opposite: audacity.

Humility and its opposite: arrogance.

Deliberation and its opposite: haste.

Forbearance and its opposite: foolishness.

Silence and its opposite: pointless talk.

Submission and its opposite: prideful refusal.

Acceptance and its opposite: doubt.

Patience and its opposite: distress.

Pardon and its opposite: revenge.

Contentment and its opposite: neediness.

Remembrance and its opposite: heedlessness.

Retention and its opposite: forgetfulness.

Kindness to others and its opposite: severing ties.

Contentment and its opposite: greed.

Sharing and its opposite: withholding.

Affection and its opposite: enmity.

Loyalty and its opposite: betrayal.

Obedience and its opposite: disobedience.

Humility and its opposite: insolence.

Protection and its opposite: affliction (or harm).

Love and its opposite: hatred.

Honesty and its opposite: lying.

Truth and its opposite: falsehood.

Trustworthiness and its opposite: treachery.

Sincerity and its opposite: hypocrisy.

Courage and its opposite: cowardice.

Comprehension and its opposite: idiocy.

Recognition and its opposite: disavowal.

Tactfulness and its opposite: harsh bluntness.

Integrity toward others in their absence and its opposite: betrayal.

Discretion and its opposite: divulging secrets.

Prayer and its opposite: neglecting prayer.

Fasting and its opposite: breaking the fast.

Striving (jihad) and its opposite: cowardice.

Pilgrimage (Hajj), meaning belief in the divinely appointed authority, and its opposite: rejection of the covenant.

Safeguarding speech and its opposite: malicious gossip.

Honoring parents and its opposite: disobedience to them.

Truthfulness and its opposite: hypocrisy.

Enjoining good and its opposite: forbidding good.

Modesty and its opposite: immodest display.

Prudent concealment and its opposite: public disclosure.

Fair-mindedness and its opposite: blind partisanship.

Preparedness and its opposite: transgression.

Cleanliness and its opposite: filth.

Moral modesty and its opposite: indecency.

Moderation and its opposite: exceeding limits.

Ease and its opposite: hardship.

Blessing and its opposite: deprivation.

Well-being and its opposite: tribulation.

Moderate sufficiency and its opposite: excessive accumulation.

Wisdom and its opposite: following desires.

Respectful composure and its opposite: frivolity.

Happiness and its opposite: misery.

Repentance and its opposite: persistence in sin.

Seeking forgiveness and its opposite: complacent self-delusion.

Carefulness and its opposite: negligence.

Supplication and its opposite: arrogance (or refusal to ask God).

Diligence and its opposite: laziness.

Joy and its opposite: sorrow.

Harmony and its opposite: division.

Generosity and its opposite: stinginess.

All of these qualities belonging to the soldiers of the intellect come together only in a prophet, a prophet’s successor, or a believer whose heart God has tested for faith. As for the rest of our followers, none of them is free from some of those soldiers until these qualities [of the intellect] are complete within him and he purifies himself from the soldiers of ignorance. When that occurs, he will be in the highest rank alongside the prophets and successors…’”