the cellar at Samarra in the year 260 AH, or thereabouts, when he had not yet reached the age of discernment (1). Indeed, he was only two, three, or five (2) years old, or thereabouts. According to them, he is now more than 450 (3) years old, yet neither he himself nor any trace of him has been seen, and neither sound nor report of him has been heard.

Thus, none of them knows him, either by sight or by description. They merely say that this person, whom no one has seen and of whom no report has been heard, is the imam of their time. It is evident that this does not constitute knowledge of the imam.

A comparable case would be that of a man who has a relative among his paternal cousins somewhere in the world but knows nothing about his circumstances. Such a man cannot be said to know his cousin. Likewise, if the finder of lost property knows that it has an owner but does not know who that owner is, he cannot be said to know the owner of the lost property (4). Indeed, such knowledge is greater, because it (5) allows some legal rulings concerning ownership and kinship to be established [on that basis] (6). As for the awaited one, nothing is known of him that could be of any benefit with respect to the imamate.

For knowledge of the imam who brings a person out of the state of pre-Islamic ignorance (7) is knowledge through which obedience and communal unity are attained, in contrast to the condition of the people of pre-Islamic ignorance. They had no imam to unite them and no community to protect them. Allah (8) Most High sent Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and through him guided them to obedience and communal unity, whereas this awaited one does not—