1 . أَخْبَرَنَا وَلِيدُ بْنُ مَحْمُودٍ السِّجِسْتَانِيُّ، قَالَ: قَالَ الْمَنْصُورُ الْهَاشِمِيُّ الْخُرَاسَانِيُّ: مَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ رَأْيٍ وَلَا مِنْ رِوَايَةٍ، وَإِنَّمَا جَعَلَ خَلِيفَةً فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ، قُلْتُ: فَمَنْ لَمْ يَظْفَرْ بِخَلِيفَةِ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَمَاذَا يُغْنِيهِ؟ قَالَ: إِنَّمَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ خَلِيفَةً فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُظْفَرَ بِهِ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَظْفَرْ بِهِ كَانَ كَمَنْ أَصَابَهُ الْعَطَشُ وَلَمْ يَظْفَرْ بِالْمَاءِ، أَرَأَيْتَ الرَّمْلَ وَالْحَصَاةَ يُغْنِيَانِ عَنْهُ شَيْئًا؟! لَا وَاللَّهِ، بَلْ يَمُوتُ عَطَشًا وَلَا يَنْتَطِحُ فِيهِ عَنْزَانِ.
Translation of the saying:
Walid ibn Mahmoud al-Sajistani informed us, saying: Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani said: “Allah has established neither opinion nor narration; rather, He has appointed a caliph on the Earth to rule among people.” I said: “In that case, if someone does not find access to the caliph of Allah on the Earth, what will suffice him instead?” He said: “Allah has only appointed a caliph on the Earth so that he may be accessed; and whoever does not find access to him is like one who is overcome with thirst and has found no access to water—do you think that gravel and sand will suffice him in place of water?! No, by Allah! Rather, he will die of thirst, and not even two rams will butt heads over him.”
Explanation of the saying:
From this pure wisdom, it is understood that people’s need for Allah’s caliph on the Earth is a natural need, of the same kind as their need for water. Therefore, if it is not fulfilled, their destruction is a natural and inevitable consequence that cannot be remedied. Thus, the only way to prevent it is to attain access to Allah’s caliph on the Earth—something that is possible for people if they provide the necessary means and conditions for it; just as Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has explained in detail how to do so in his invaluable book Return to Islam.
2 . أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الْحَمِيدِ بْنُ بَخْتِيَارَ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِلْمَنْصُورِ: أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي لَا يَعْرِفُ خَلِيفَةَ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَوْ لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ، فَهَلْ لَهُ مِنْ بُدٍّ أَوْ مَنْدُوحَةٍ مَا لَمْ يَعْرِفْهُ وَيَقْدِرْ عَلَيْهِ؟ فَطَأْطَأَ رَأْسَهُ كَأَنَّهُ يَتَفَكَّرُ، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ وَقَالَ: لَا، قُلْتُ: وَاللَّهِ يَهْلِكُ إِذَنْ! قَالَ: نَعَمْ وَهُوَ صَاغِرٌ!
Translation of the saying:
Abd al-Hamid ibn Bakhtiyar informed us, saying: I said to Mansoor: “Is there any remedy or way out for someone who does not know Allah’s caliph on the Earth or has no access to him, as long as he does not know him and has no access to him?” So he lowered his head for a while, as if he were thinking; then he raised his head and said: “No.” I said: “By Allah, in that case he is doomed!’ He said: “Yes—while he is insignificant.”
3 . أَخْبَرَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ الطِّهْرَانِيُّ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِلْمَنْصُورِ: إِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ رَأْيٌ وَلَا رِوَايَةٌ وَلَا سَبِيلٌ إِلَى خَلِيفَةِ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ، فَإِلَى مَا يَفِرُّ الرَّجُلُ؟ قَالَ: إِلَى النَّارِ!
Translation of the saying:
Hasan ibn Qasim al-Tehrani informed us, saying: I said to Mansoor: “When there is no opinion, no narration, and no way to Allah’s caliph on the Earth, then where should a person flee?” He said: “To the fire!”
Explanation of the saying:
These decisive and extraordinary words of wisdom—clearly springing from a pure source and serving as a sign for the perceptive—indicate that man himself is the cause of his lack of access to Allah’s caliph on the Earth, and thus his destruction stems from his misuse of free will, because he could have prepared the ground for access to the Mahdi, but he did not do so; therefore, opinion and conjectural narration cannot compensate for the lack of access to him.
4 . أَخْبَرَنَا ذَاكِرُ بْنُ مَعْرُوفٍ الْخُرَاسَانِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: مَنْ مَاتَ وَلَمْ يَعْرِفْ خَلِيفَةَ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَقَدْ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً، وَمَنْ مَاتَ وَلَمْ يُدْرِكْهُ فَقَدْ شَقَى، قُلْتُ: وَإِنِ اجْتَهَدَ بِرَأْيِهِ؟! قَالَ: وَإِنِ اجْتَهَدَ بِرَأْيِهِ، قُلْتُ: وَإِنْ عَمِلَ بِالرِّوَايَةِ؟! قَالَ: وَإِنْ عَمِلَ بِالرِّوَايَةِ.
Translation of the saying:
Zakir ibn Ma‘roof al-Khorasani informed us, saying: I heard Mansoor say: “Whoever dies without having known Allah’s caliph on the Earth has died a death of jahiliyyah, and whoever dies without having attained access to him has become wretched.” I said: “Even if he carries out ijtihad based on his own opinion?!” He said: “Even if he carries out ijtihad based on his own opinion.” I said: “Even if he acts according to narration?!” He said: “Even if he acts according to narration.”
Explanation of the saying:
This is the terrifying dead end in which Muslims have trapped themselves, and their only way out of it is to accompany Mansoor in preparing the ground for the advent of the Mahdi; there is no other way for them. Yet alas, they have fallen into a deep sleep and do not hear the call of this truthful caller—except for a few of them who are pious, who respond to his call and hasten toward him, even if crawling over the snow; until they join the Mahdi together with him and fill the world with justice, just as it has been filled with oppression—and the good end belongs to the pious.
