the infallible one rather than anyone else, he produces no proof whatsoever, and his statements contradict one another.

Likewise, the Rāfidī adopted from the Qadariyya their argument that God is obligated to do what is best for His servants, and upon this he based(1) the claim that there must be an infallible person. These doctrines are unsound. Yet when asked to identify that person, he has no proof whatsoever except the mere(2) assertion of someone whose infallibility has not yet been established(3): “I am infallible.”(4)

If it is said:

“If reason establishes that there must be an infallible person, and Ali then says, ‘I am infallible,’ it necessarily follows that he is the infallible one(5), because no one else has claimed this.”

It is said to them:

Even if one were to suppose that an infallible person existed, the mere statement of an individual—“I am infallible”—would not be accepted, because it is possible that(6) someone else is the infallible one, even if we are unaware of his claim(7) and even if he has not made that claim public. Indeed, according to their own principles, he may refrain from(8) claiming infallibility and announcing it, just as the Awaited One may conceal himself for fear of the oppressors.

On this supposition, it is not impossible that there should be an infallible person on earth other than the Twelve, even if this is not apparent and we do not know it, just as they have alleged the same concerning the Awaited One. Why, then, do they have no evidence by which to identify him—neither consensus nor a claim?