so that he might provide gracious aid and serve a beneficial purpose in the imposition of religious obligations.

The invalidity of this argument has already been demonstrated in several ways. The least of them is that such an imam is nonexistent (1), not existent. No infallible imam has ever existed through whom gracious aid was attained, [nor] any benefit (2). Even if the sole evidence for [the absence] (3) of such a thing were the Awaited One—of whom it is known by plain reason that no one has benefited from him, [neither] (4) in religion nor in worldly affairs, and through whom no benefit or gracious aid has accrued to anyone subject to religious obligations—that alone would prove their doctrine false. How much more so when there is abundant evidence to that effect?

Second:

His assertion, “Each of these men attained the pinnacle of perfection,” is wholly unsupported by evidence. Anyone can answer an assertion made without knowledge with an equally unsupported assertion. Indeed, if someone claimed such perfection for those among the Companions, the Followers, and the other imams of the Muslims who are more renowned for knowledge and religion than the two al-Askarīs and others like them, that claim would be more deserving of acceptance. Whoever has studied the accounts of people knows that the scholarly and religious virtues established through mass transmission concerning more than one of the imams are more abundant than even the false reports related about the two al-Askarīs and others like them—quite apart from the truthful reports (5).

Third:

If, by his words (6), “these Imams,” he means that they possessed authority and power and had the sword (7) at their command, this is an obvious lie, and they themselves do not claim it,