He (AS) said: There will come upon people a biting age, in which a man will bite down upon what is in his hands, though he was not commanded to do so. God, glorified be He, said: 'And do not forget graciousness between yourselves' [Qur'an 2:237]. In it the wicked will rise up and the good will be humbled, and bargains will be struck with those in desperate need, though the Messenger of God (PBUH) forbade trading with those in desperate need. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 236)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A hard time will come when people will cling tightly to what they possess, that is, they will become miserly, whereas God has commanded the opposite; God has said: Do not forget to show grace and kindness to one another. In that time the wicked will gain the upper hand and the good will be humbled and abased, and people will go looking for the man in desperate need of money, so as to wrest his property from his grasp, though the Prophet of God (PBUH) forbade buying from and selling to a person who has been compelled by need to sell his property.
And another sermon of his (AS), at the end of which he says: And know that those firmly rooted in knowledge are those whom God has made independent of forcing their way through the barriers set before the unseen, so that they hold fast to acknowledging as a whole that whose interpretation of the veiled unseen they do not know. 'They say: We believe in it; all is from our Lord' [Qur'an 3:7]. So God, Mighty and Majestic, praised their confession of incapacity to grasp what they do not encompass in knowledge, and He named their abstention from probing deeply into what He did not oblige them to investigate 'firm rootedness' on their part. So limit yourself to that, and do not measure the greatness of God by the measure of your intellect, lest you be among those who perish. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 318)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Those firmly rooted in knowledge, that is, the true scholars, are those who feel no need to know the secrets and hidden things, and for whom what they know in general terms suffices. When they do not know the details of something, they say: It does not matter, for we believe that all of it is from God. God has praised this very acknowledgement of their incapacity for knowledge; He loves their abstention from probing deeply into what does not concern them, and has named it firm rootedness in knowledge. So confine yourself to what you must know, and do not seek to grasp the greatness of God with this small intellect of yours, for you would perish.
With his chain of transmission to Abu Hakim, who said: Ibn Abd Allah narrated to me, saying: While the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was passing through the courtyard of the Sacred House of God, he looked at a man who was praying and found his prayer excellent, so he said: O man, do you know the inner interpretation of your prayer? The man asked: O cousin of the best of God's creation, does prayer have any interpretation other than worship? Ali (AS) said: Know, O man, that God, Blessed and Exalted, did not send His Prophet (PBUH) with any matter whatsoever without its having an ambiguous aspect, an inner interpretation, and an outward revelation, and all of that rests upon the worshipper. So whoever does not know the interpretation of his prayer, his prayer is wholly defective, deficient, and incomplete. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 319)
The narrator said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) saw someone in the courtyard of the Sacred Mosque who was engaged in prayer. His manner of praying met with the Imam's approval, and when his prayer was finished he said to him: O man, do you know the ta'wil, the inner and deeper meaning, of prayer? The man said: O cousin of the Messenger of God! Prayer is worship; does it have some particular inner meaning? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Yes; God did not charge His Prophet (PBUH) with anything without that thing having an outward aspect (tanzil), an inner aspect (ta'wil), and an ambiguous aspect, and whoever devotes himself to God's religion must come to know these! One who does not know what the inner meaning of his prayer is, his prayer is deficient and incomplete.
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful (AS) say: One of you becomes angry, and he is not appeased until his anger has brought him into the Fire. So whichever man among you becomes angry with a blood relative, let him draw near to him, for kinship, when the Merciful touches it, becomes settled. It is suspended from the Throne, shaking it as iron is shaken, and it calls out: O God, join with whoever joins with me, and cut off whoever cuts me off. And that is the saying of God in His Book: 'And fear God, through whom you ask one another, and the ties of kinship. Indeed God is ever a Watcher over you' [Qur'an 4:1]. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 436)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sometimes a person becomes angry, and his anger does not subside until it has made him a dweller of Hell. Whenever you become angry with one of your kinsfolk, draw near to him and be reconciled with him, for kinship, when the mercy of God reaches it, becomes settled. Kinship is suspended from the Throne and continually calls out: O God! Join with whoever joins with me, and cut off from whoever cuts himself off from me.
As God has said: 'And fear God, through whom you ask one another, and the ties of kinship. Indeed God is ever a Watcher over you' [Qur'an 4:1].
From Hariz, from one of our companions, from one of the two Imams (AS), who said: When the Commander of the Faithful was in Kufa, the people came to him and said: Appoint for us an imam to lead us in prayer during Ramadan. He said: No, and he forbade them to gather for it. When evening came, they began to say: Weep in Ramadan! Alas for Ramadan! Then al-Harith al-A'war came to him with a group of people and said: O Commander of the Faithful, the people are clamouring and have found your words hard to bear. At that he said: Leave them and what they desire; let whomever they wish lead them in prayer. Then he said: 'And follows other than the way of the believers, We shall leave him to what he has turned to and shall burn him in Hell, and evil it is as a destination' [Qur'an 4:115]. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 551)
In Kufa, the common people came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: Appoint for us an imam to lead us in the tarawih prayer on the nights of the month of Ramadan! The Imam, who regarded the performance of this prayer in congregation as an innovation, said: No! And he forbade them. When night came, the people began to weep and to cry out: Alas for Ramadan! Al-Harith al-A'war came with a group to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful! The people are raising an outcry, and your words have weighed heavily upon them. When the Imam heard this, he said: Then leave them alone, and let them do whatever they wish, and let whomever they want lead them in prayer. Then he recited this verse: And whoever follows a way other than the way of the believers, We shall consign him to that which he himself has chosen, and We shall admit him into Hell, and what an evil destination it is.
A discourse of Ali (AS) in which he says: As for your saying that I made men arbiters in the religion of God, I did not make men arbiters; I only made the word of my Lord the arbiter, which God appointed as judge among His people. And God did make men arbiters concerning a bird, for He said: 'And whoever of you kills it intentionally, the penalty is an equivalent from livestock to what he killed, as judged by two just men among you' [Qur'an 5:95]. And the blood of the Muslims is greater than the blood of a bird. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 675)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said concerning the arbitration: I did not make persons the arbiters; I made the word of my Lord, the Qur'an, the arbiter! Although making persons arbiters is not in itself wrong; have you not seen that God Himself appointed two men to judge concerning the expiation due for game hunted by one in the state of ihram, saying: And whoever of you kills game intentionally while in the state of ihram must give an expiation of the like of what he killed from among livestock, as judged by two just men from among you [Qur'an 5:95]? And the blood of Muslims is certainly greater in God's sight than the blood of a bird.
From Yazdad ibn Ibrahim, from one of our companions who narrated to us, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: I heard him say: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By God, God, Blessed and Exalted, has given me nine things that He gave to no one before me except the Prophet (PBUH): the ways have been opened for me, I have been taught the causes of things, the clouds are made to move for me, I have been taught the modes of death and the afflictions and the decisive word, and I have looked into the celestial kingdom by the leave of my Lord, majestic is His majesty, so that neither what was before me nor what comes after me is hidden from me. The hadith continues. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 735)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: God has bestowed nine things upon me that He gave to no one before me except the Seal of the Prophets (PBUH): I am able to open the ways for people; I know the causes of things; the clouds move for me; I know the manner of each person's death and the afflictions that will befall him; the decisive word (the power of precise and final judgment) has been given to me; and I likewise gaze into the celestial kingdom by God's leave, so nothing of the past or the future is hidden from me.
With his chain of transmission to Amr ibn Jumay', from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, who said: My father narrated to me from his father from his grandfather (AS), who said: al-Husayn ibn Ali (AS) came in to Mu'awiya, who said to him: What moved your father to kill the people of Basra and then to walk about their streets in the evening in two garments? He (AS) said: What moved him to that was his knowledge that whatever befell him could not have passed him by, and whatever passed him by could not have befallen him. He said: You have spoken truly. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 2, p. 28)
Husayn ibn Ali (AS) came in to Mu'awiya. Mu'awiya said to him: How was it that your father, after the Battle of the Camel in which he had killed a great many of the people of Basra, walked about that night through the lanes of Basra in simple clothing and without armour? Imam Husayn (AS) said: My father knew that the afflictions decreed for him would reach him, and that when an affliction is not decreed, one is safe. Mu'awiya said: You speak the truth.
In Misbah al-Sharia: And the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sweetest and most delightful thing in Paradise is the love of God, and love for the sake of God, and praise of God. God, Mighty and Majestic, said: 'And the last of their call will be: Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds' [Qur'an 10:10]. That is because, when they behold the bliss that is in Paradise, love surges in their hearts, and thereupon they call out: Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 2, p. 295)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best and most delightful thing in Paradise is the love of God and love for the sake of God. Then he said: When the people of Paradise behold God's bounty in Paradise, love blazes up in their hearts and cries out: Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. And this is the last and the loftiest utterance of man, as God has said: 'And the last of their call will be: Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.'
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), a long hadith in which is the following: God, exalted be His remembrance, sent down the binding ordinances of the sacred laws and the verses of the obligations at different times, just as He created the heavens and the earth in six days; had He wished to create them in less than the blink of an eye, He would have created them. But He made deliberateness and gentle forbearance a model for His trustees and a means of establishing the proof against His creation. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 2, p. 366)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God sent down the sacred laws and the obligations little by little; likewise, He created the heavens and the earth stage by stage, although He could have created them all at once. This is God's way. The friends of God too must make it their practice and their model to act stage by stage and to proceed with forbearance and patience.
In the Amali of the Shaykh of the Community, may his secret be sanctified, with his chain of transmission to Jabala ibn Suhaym, from his father, who said: When allegiance had been pledged to the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib, word reached him that Mu'awiya had held back from openly pledging allegiance to him and had said: If he confirms me over Syria, or over the districts to which Uthman appointed me, I will pledge allegiance to him. So al-Mughira came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, Mu'awiya is one whom you know, and the one who came before you appointed him over Syria; so appoint him yourself, that the bonds of affairs may be set in order, and then depose him if it seems good to you. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Will you guarantee me my life, O Mughira, for the interval between appointing him and deposing him? He said: No. He said: God, Mighty and Majestic, shall never question me about appointing him over even two Muslims for a single dark night. 'And I would not take those who lead astray as a support' [Qur'an 18:51]. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 268)
When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) came to the caliphate, Mu'awiya refused to pledge allegiance to him and sent word: If Ali confirms me over Syria or over the regions to which Uthman appointed me, I will pledge allegiance to him. In the midst of this turmoil, Mughira came to Ali (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful! You know Mu'awiya well, and the one who came before you appointed him over Syria. Leave him in that office too, so that affairs may be set in order, and afterwards, if you wish, depose him. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O Mughira, will you guarantee that I shall remain alive in the interval between confirming him and deposing him? Mughira said: No. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is not God's good pleasure that Mu'awiya should hold authority even for a single night, even over a few people. God has said: 'Never would I take those who lead astray as partners in My power', and I too shall act accordingly.
With his chain of transmission to Ahmad ibn Ali al-Zahib, who said: A man said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): O cousin of the best of God's creation, what is meant by the first prostration? He said: Its inner meaning is: O God, from it You created me, meaning from the earth. And your raising your head: and from it You brought us forth. And the second prostration: and to it You return us. And your raising your head from the second: and from it You will bring us forth another time. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 383)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said, concerning the inner meaning of prayer: The first prostration means: O God, You created me from dust; the raising of the head from prostration means: You raised me up from the dust; the second prostration means: to the dust we return; and the raising of the head from that prostration means: once again You will bring us forth from it and we shall enter the Resurrection.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), a long hadith in which he says: And jihad has four branches: enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, truthfulness in the places of trial, and hatred of the corrupt. So whoever enjoins what is right strengthens the back of the believer; whoever forbids what is wrong rubs Satan's nose in the dust; whoever is truthful in the places of trial has discharged what was due from him; and whoever grows angry for the sake of God, Exalted, God grows angry on his behalf. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 523)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Enjoining good and forbidding evil, speaking the truth, and hatred toward the corrupt are all branches of jihad. Whoever enjoins good and forbids evil has supported the believers and brought Satan's schemes to nothing; whoever speaks the truth in times of danger has fulfilled his duty toward God; and whoever grows angry for God's sake, God too grows angry on his behalf.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) taught his companions: There is nothing in the body less thankful than the eye, so do not grant it what it asks, lest it distract you from the remembrance of God. When a man uncovers himself, Satan looks at him and covets him, so cover yourselves. It is not for a man to draw his garment back from his thighs and sit among a company. The first glance at a woman is yours, so do not follow it with another glance, and beware of temptation. When one of you sees a woman who pleases him, let him go to his wife, for with his wife is the like of what he saw; and let him not give Satan a way into his heart, so that he may turn his gaze away from her. And if he has no wife, let him pray two rak'as and praise God abundantly, and send blessings upon the Prophet and his family, then ask God of His bounty, for by His mercy He will make lawful for him what will suffice him. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 589)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In the body there is nothing more ungrateful than the eye. Do not let it look wherever it wishes, for it will keep you from the remembrance of God. Then he said: When a person uncovers himself, Satan casts his eye upon him and covets him; so cover yourselves. Then he said: A single glance at women is no fault, but the second glance will bring you into trouble. If you see an alluring woman, go to your own wife, for women are all alike. Do not let Satan gain mastery over your heart and make your wife seem of little worth to you. And whoever has no wife, let him pray two rak'as and praise God abundantly and send blessings upon the Prophet, and then ask God of His bounty to grant him a wife; by His mercy God will make lawful for him whatever will make him free of need.
Among what the Commander of the Faithful (AS) taught his companions of the four hundred chapters: When one of you enters a dwelling, let him greet its people, saying: Peace be upon you. And if there are no people there, let him say: Peace be upon us from our Lord. And let him recite 'Say: He is God, One' when he enters his dwelling, for it drives away poverty. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 628)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you enter a house, greet the people of the house and say: Peace! And if there is no one in the house, still give greeting and say: The peace of God be upon us all! And on entering the house recite the Sura of Divine Unity, so that poverty may be driven away.
From Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilali, who said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful (AS) say, and he delivered a long discourse, in the course of which was: There is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator, and it is not fitting for a creature to be a shield for disobedience to God. So there is no obedience in an act of disobedience, and no obedience to one who disobeys God. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 4, p. 203)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator is never permissible, and the pleasing of a creature must not become a cover for sin, for no obedience within an act of disobedience can be conceived as licit, and no obedience to a person who disobeys God is fitting.
In the Book of al-Khisal, among what the Commander of the Faithful (AS) taught his companions of the four hundred chapters of what benefits a Muslim in his religion and his worldly life: In every man there is one of three things: pride, the taking of ill omens, and wishful longing. So when one of you takes an ill omen, let him proceed in spite of his omen and remember God, Mighty and Majestic. And when he fears pride, let him eat together with his slave and his servant and milk the sheep. And when he longs for something, let him ask God, Mighty and Majestic, and beseech Him earnestly, and let not his soul drive him to sin. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 4, p. 382)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In a person there is usually one of these three things: pride, tatayyur (the taking of ill omens), and wishful longing.
When an ill omen occurs to you, pay it no heed and pass on, and take refuge in God; when pride arises, share your food with your servants and do the household tasks yourself; and if desires and longings come upon you, ask what you wish from God and beseech Him humbly, and take care not to pursue what you want at any cost.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), in which he says, a man having asked him about verses that were unclear to him: As for the saying of God, Mighty and Majestic, 'Faces that Day will be radiant, looking toward their Lord' [Qur'an 75:22-23], that refers to a place at which the friends of God, Mighty and Majestic, arrive after the reckoning is completed: a river called al-Hayawan. They bathe in it and drink from it, and their faces become radiant with brightness, and every impurity and hardship departs from them. Then they are commanded to enter Paradise, and from this station they look toward their Lord, to see how He rewards them, and from it they enter Paradise. That is the saying of God, Mighty and Majestic, concerning the angels' greeting of them: 'Peace be upon you, you have been good, so enter it to abide forever' [Qur'an 39:73]. At that point they are certain of entering Paradise and of beholding what He promised them, and that is His saying, 'looking toward their Lord'; and what is meant by looking toward Him is looking toward His reward, Blessed and Exalted. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 4, p. 508)
Someone asked the Commander of the Faithful (AS) about the verse 'Faces that Day will be radiant, looking toward their Lord' [Qur'an 75:22-23]. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This concerns the station at which, after the reckoning is over, the friends of God come to a river called al-Hayawan. There they bathe and drink from it, and their faces shine with radiance, and they are cleansed forever of all defilement and distress. Then they are commanded to enter Paradise. It is at this station that they look toward their Lord.
From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: We found in the book of Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS): The grave sins are five: associating partners with God, disobedience toward parents, consuming usury after clear proof has been given, fleeing from the battle line, and returning to bedouin life after the migration. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 163)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the school of Ali (AS), the grave sins are only five: associating partners with God, disobedience toward parents, manifest usury, fleeing from battle, and dwelling in a land of unbelief in which the practice of religion is not possible.
In Majma' al-Bayan: 'There will circulate among them immortal youths' [Qur'an 56:17]. There is disagreement about these youths. It has been said: they are the children of the people of this world who had no good deeds for which they might be rewarded and no evil deeds for which they might be punished, and so they were assigned this station. On the authority of Ali (AS). (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 211)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said, in explanation of 'There will circulate among them immortal youths': These are those who died in childhood and had neither any good deed for which they might be rewarded nor any evil deed for which they might be punished.
Ali ibn Muhammad, raising it to the Imam, said: Ali (AS) said: When you plant a shoot or a seed, recite over each stem or grain: Glory be to Him, the Raiser, the Inheritor; for then it will hardly fail, if God wills. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 224)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you plant a sapling or a seed, recite over it: Glory be to Him, the Raiser, the Inheritor. It will usually bear fruit and grow. Of course, everything is by God's will.
It is related from Abu al-Tufayl, who said: Ali (AS) bought a garment and it pleased him, so he gave it away in charity and said: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Whoever gives another preference over himself, God will give him preference with Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 285)
The narrator said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) bought a garment and was greatly pleased with it. So he at once gave it away in charity and said: I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH): Whoever gives others precedence over himself, God will give him precedence with Paradise on the Day of Resurrection.
And know that whoever fears God, He will make for him a way out of trials and a light amid the darknesses. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 356)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The meaning of the verse 'Whoever is godwary, God will grant him deliverance' is deliverance from trials and from darknesses, by means of a light that God bestows upon him.
Among what the Commander of the Faithful (AS) taught his companions of the four hundred chapters of what benefits a Muslim in his religion and his worldly life: A man should not pray a supererogatory prayer during the time of an obligatory prayer, except for some excuse; rather he should make it up afterwards, when making it up is possible for him. God, Exalted, said: 'Those who are constant in their prayer' [Qur'an 70:23], meaning those who make up by day what they missed of the night, and by night what they missed of the day. A supererogatory prayer is not to be made up during the time of an obligatory prayer: begin with the obligatory prayer, then pray whatever you wish. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 416)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: During the time of an obligatory prayer, do not perform supererogatory prayers; make up the supererogatory prayers afterwards. Then he said: The meaning of 'Those who are constant in their prayer' is the making up of supererogatory prayers. But always give priority to the obligatory prayers.
Among what the Commander of the Faithful (AS) taught his companions of the four hundred chapters: Wear garments of cotton, for it was the clothing of the Messenger of God (PBUH); he would not wear hair or wool except for some reason. And he said: God, Exalted, is beautiful and loves beauty, and He loves to see the trace of His blessing upon His servant. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 598)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Cotton is a good material for clothing; the Prophet of God (PBUH) too wore cotton and avoided wool and animal hair, except out of necessity. And he used to say: God is beautiful and loves beauty, and He loves to see upon His servant the trace of the blessing He has given him.
And it has been related from Ali (AS) that he went out on a feast day and saw people praying, so he said: O people, we were present with the Prophet of God (PBUH) on a day such as this, and no one used to pray before the feast prayer, or he said: before the Prophet came out. A man said: O Commander of the Faithful, will you not forbid them to pray before the imam comes out? He said: I do not wish to forbid a servant when he prays; rather we tell them what we witnessed from the Prophet, or as he said. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 610)
On a feast day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) came out from his house to lead the people in prayer. He saw a group of people performing supererogatory prayers before his arrival. He said: Such a thing was not the custom in the time of the Messenger of God (PBUH); no one would pray before his arrival, and all would wait for him. A man asked: O Commander of the Faithful! Will you not forbid them? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No! I do not wish to be an instance of the verse 'Have you seen the one who forbids a servant when he prays?' [Qur'an 96:9-10]. I have only told you what I had seen in the time of the Messenger of God (PBUH).
And from Ali (AS): The Prophet (PBUH) used to wake his family during the last ten nights of Ramadan. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 629)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: During the last ten days of the month of Ramadan, the Messenger of God (PBUH) would urge those close to him to stay awake at night as much as they were able.
Zirr ibn Hubaysh, from Ali (AS), who said: We did not cease to doubt about the punishment of the grave until there was revealed 'Rivalry in worldly increase distracts you' [Qur'an 102:1], down to His saying, 'No indeed, you shall come to know', meaning in the grave, and then 'Again, no indeed, you shall come to know', after the resurrection. (Nur al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 661)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: We used to be in doubt as to whether there is punishment in the grave as well, until the verses of the Sura of Rivalry (al-Takathur) were revealed. Then he said: In this sura, 'No indeed, you shall come to know' refers to the punishment of the grave, and 'Again, no indeed, you shall come to know' refers to the punishment of the Resurrection.
Kanz al-Daqa'iq is a narration-based commentary written by Mirza Muhammad Qummi Mashhadi (d. 1125 AH). Most of the traditions in this book are drawn from Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn. The author was a contemporary of Majlisi and a student of Fayd, and in all likelihood was killed during the Afghan invasion. Unlike Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn, this commentary treats all the verses, and besides citing the relevant hadiths it addresses the connections between the verses, their parsing and construction, and the various opinions of the commentators. The author takes particular care to refute the Isra'iliyyat and to criticize the beliefs of the Sufis.