The meaning of the carrying performed by the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, to Ali, peace be upon him, and Ali’s incapability of carrying him

I heard Muhammed bin Harb al-Hilali, a commander in Medina, say: I asked Ja’far bin Muhammed, peace be upon them both, and said to him: O son of Allah’s Messenger, there is a matter (of question) in me which I want to ask you about. He saud: If you wish, I would inform you of your matter before you ask me, and if you wish, then ask. He said: Then I said to him: O son of Allah’s Messenger, and by what thing do you know what is in my inner self before I ask of it? He said: By discerning and scrutinizing. Have you not heard the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Indeed, in that are signs for those who discern.» (15:75) and the saying of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family: «Fear the scrutinizing of the believer, for indeed, he gazes with the Light of Allah, Exalted and Gloriousis He»? He said: I said to him: O son of Allah’s Messenger, then inform me of my matter. He said: He said: You wanted to ask me about the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, why he was capable of carrying Ali, peace be upon him, when he put down the statues from the roof of the Ka’ba, despite his strength, severeness and what appeared from him at the pulling out of the gate of the lion in Khaybar and the casting of it behind him by (the length of) forty upper arms, when forty men were not capable of carrying it. The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, however, used to ride a female camel, horse, mole and donkey, and also rode the Buraq [2] at the Night of Ascension, and all that are (signs of what is) beneath Ali, peace be upon him, in strength and severeness. He said: Then I said to him: About this, by Allah, I wanted to ask you, O son of Allah’s Messenger, so inform me. He said: Indeed, Ali, peace be upon him, was honored through the Messenger of Allah, and by him he was elevated, and by him he reached (the extent of) extinguishing the fire of polytheism and invalidating every worshipped except for Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He. If the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, had been carried to take down the statues, he would have, through Ali, peace be upon him, become in a state of elevation, honor and reach to take down the statues. If it was as such, he would be better than him. Do you not see that Ali, peace be upon him, said: «When I was on the back of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, I was honored and raised to the extent that even if I had wished to reach the sky, I would have reached it»? Do you not know that the lamp is that by which one is guided in darkness, and in which the branch emerges from the source? Ali, peace be upon him, had said: «I am from Ahmad [3] like (how) a light (is derived) from light.» Do you not know that Muhammed and Ali, Allah’s blessings be upon them both, were between the Hands of Allah, Glorified be His Glory, before the creation of the creation by two thousand years, and that when the Angels saw that Light, they saw that it had a source from which a brightening radiation diverged, and it said: «Our God and Master, what is this Light?» to which Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, revealed to them: «This is a Light from My Light; its source is Prophethood and its branch is Imamate. As for the Prophethood, it is for Muhammed, My Servant and Messenger, and as for the Imamate, it is for Ali, My Proof and Viceregent, and were it not for both of them, I would not have created My creation»? Do you not know that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, raised the hands of Ali, peace be upon him, in Ghadeer Khumm until the people saw the whiteness of their underarms, and made him the Master of the Muslims and their Imam, and that he, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, had carried Hasan and Hussain, peace be upon them both, on the day of the yard of the sons of Najjar, and that when some of his companions said to him: «Hand me one of them, O Messenger of Allah» he said: « How good are the two who are carrying, and how good are the two will ride, and their father is better than»? [4] It was narrated in another report that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, carried Hasan and that Jibra’eel carried Hussain, and that it was for this sake that he said: «How good are the two who are carrying». He, peace be upon him, was praying (in congregation) with his companions and had prolonged one prostration of his prostrations, and that when he sent peace, it was said to him: O Messenger of Allah, you certainly prolonged this prostration. He, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, then said: Yes, indeed, my son rode on me, and I disliked to make him haste until he gets down. By that, he, peace be upon him, only wanted to elevate and honor them. The Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, is the Messenger of the sons of Adam, whereas Ali, peace be upon him, is an Imam, and is not a Prophet, nor a Messenger, and so, he is not capable of carrying the weights of Prophethood. [5] Muhammed bin Harb al-Hilali said: Then I said to him: Increase me, O son of Allah’s Messenger. He said: You are surely deserving of more. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, carried Ali on his back in the manner that he intended that he is the father of his children and the Imam of the Imams from his backbone, like how he transformed his garment during the prayer of seeking rain and wanted to give his companions a notice that the barren ground had turned into fertile. He said: Then I said to him: Increase me, O son of Allah’s Messenger. He said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, carried Ali and wanted to give notice to his people that he is the one who will lighten from the back of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, that which is upon him of debt, numbers and clearance on his behalf after him. He said: Then I said to him: O son of Allah’s Messenger, increase me. He said: Indeed, he carried him in order to give notice by it that he had carried him along with what he has carried, because he is an Infallible and does not carry a (sinful) burden, and hence, his acts would be a wisdom and rightness to people. Moreover, the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said to Ali, peace be upon him: O Ali, indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, made me carry the sins of your party [6] and then forgave me for them. That is the saying of Him, Exalted and Glorious is He: «That Allah might forgive what has preceded, of your (act of) sin, and what will follow» (48:2). Moreover, when Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, sent down unto him: «O you who have believed, it is upon you (to take care of) your own selves» (5:105) the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: «O people, it is upon you (to take care of) your own selves. You will not be harmed by the one who aberrates if you are guided. Ali is my own self and my brother. Obey Ali, for indeed, he is purified, Infallible, he will not aberrate, nor become wretched.» He then recited this verse: «Say: Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and if they turn away, it is only upon him what was carried upon him, and it is upon you what was carried upon you, and if you obey him, you will be guided. And there is not upon the Messenger except for the clear notification.» (24:54) Muhammed bin Harb al-Hilali said: Then Ja’far bin Muhammed, peace be upon them both, said: O commander, if I was to inform you of what lies in the carrying of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, to Ali, peace be upon him, during the taking down of the statues from the roof of the Ka’ba of the meanings which he intended with it, you would surely had said: «Indeed, Ja’far bin Muhammed is surely insane.» Hence, it is sufficient for you of that what you have heard. Then I stood up to him, kissed his head and said: Allah is More Knowledgeable where He places His Message.