one who wielded authority and for whom infallibility is claimed except Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—(1) during his caliphate.

It is necessarily known that the state of gracious aid and benefit (2) enjoyed by the believers during the era of the three caliphs was greater than the gracious aid and benefit (3) that prevailed [during Ali’s caliphate] (4), at the time of fighting, strife, and division. Thus, if no one whom the Imāmīs claim to be infallible attained authority through the pledge of allegiance given by a wielder of power (5) except Ali alone, and if the benefit accruing to those morally accountable, together with the gracious aid they received in their religious and worldly affairs during that time, was less than what they enjoyed during the era of the three caliphs, then it is necessarily known (6) that their claim that gracious aid and benefit are secured through infallible imams is categorically false (7).

This (8) is of the same kind as the guidance and faith ascribed to the Men (9) of the Unseen at Mount Lebanon and other mountains (10), such as Mount Qāsiyūn in Damascus, the Cave of Blood, Mount al-Fath in Egypt, and other similar mountains and caves (11), for