part until they come to me at the Pool.” (1) This report is of the same kind, and there are issues concerning it that will be discussed in their proper place, [Allah willing] (2).

Even if this were authentic, what would be meant is the reward associated with the Quran. As for truth that follows an individual (3), while that individual in turn follows it, this is a quality of that individual and does not extend beyond him. This means that his words are truthful and his deeds righteous; it does not mean that no one else has (4) any share of the truth.

Moreover, truth does not follow any person other than the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If truth followed Ali wherever he went, he would necessarily be infallible like the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. In their ignorance, they do indeed claim this. Yet whoever knows that Ali had no greater claim to infallibility than Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, or the others (5), and that none of them was infallible, will know that their claim is false. His fatwas were of the same order as those of Umar and Uthman (6); he was no more likely to be correct than they were, nor did their statements contain more opinions outweighed by stronger evidence than did his (7). Nor were the Prophet’s praise of him and his approval of him any greater than his praise of them