others, so that each of them may devote himself (1) to meeting the needs of another (2), until the human race is fully sustained (3). Since social association is liable to mutual domination and exploitation (4)—for any individual may need something possessed by another, whereupon his appetitive faculty (5) prompts him to seize it by overpowering and wronging its possessor—this leads to chaos and disorder and the fomenting of strife. It is therefore necessary to appoint an infallible imam who will restrain them from injustice and transgression, prevent them from vying for mastery (6) and coercing one another, secure justice for the wronged (7) against the wrongdoer, and deliver every right to the person entitled to it. He must be incapable of error, forgetfulness, or sin; otherwise, he would himself require (8) another imam. This is because the reason necessitating the appointment of an imam is (9) that the community is liable to error. If the imam were likewise liable to error, he would need another imam. If the latter were infallible, he would be the imam; otherwise, an infinite regress would follow.

As for the second premise, it is evident (10), because Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān did not