or you order him to follow you in your doctrine and the mutazilite and the philosopher dispute with you and so do the rest of the sects. so how is one doctrine distinguished from another doctrine and one sect from another? the answer is from two aspects. the first is that we say to them if someone came to you confused about the origin of the existence of the creator and the truthfulness of the prophets this problem would turn against you. so what would you say if you mentioned a rational proof we would not trust his view and if you referred it to his mind then it is like an example. so perhaps you will satisfy his thirst by referring it to the infallible one. how cool is this satisfaction for he says appreciate me i have come. guidance in the time of muhammad bin abdullah and with him his miracle your infallible one is not capable of a miracle or estimate that i saw your infallible one turn a staff into a snake or revive the dead or heal the blind and the leper and i saw him but his truthfulness is not clear to me by the necessity of reason nor do i trust in observation and how many kinds of creatures have seen that and denied it so some of them attributed it to magic and a trick and some of them to something else so perhaps you will satisfy his anguish by saying to him follow the infallible imam and do not ask about the reason so he says why should i not follow those who oppose you in denying prophethood and infallibility and is it there is a difference between them in the length of the beard or the whiteness of the face and other things that they are raving about. this is a heart that if the first of them were to gather with the last of them to be free from it without the command to think and look into the evidence they would not find a way to it.
أو تأمرونه باتباعكم في مذهبكم وينازعكم المعتزلى والفلسفي وكذا سائر الفرق فبماذا يتميز مذهب عن مذهب وفرقة عن فرقة فالجواب من وجهين الأول هو أنا نقول لهم لو جاءكم متحير في أصل وجود الصانع وصدق الأنبياء انقلب عليكم هذا الإشكال فماذا تقولون إن ذكرتم دليلا عقليا لم نثق بنظره وإن رددتموه إلى عقله فكمثل فعساكم تشفون غليله بالحوالة على المعصوم فما أبرد هذا الشفاء فإنه يقول قدروني قد جئت مسترشدا في زمان محمد بن عبد الله ومعه معجزته فمعصومكم لا يقدر على معجزة أو قدروا إني شاهدت معصومكم قلب العصا ثعبانا أو أحيا الموتى أو أبرأ الأكمة والأبرص وأنا أشاهده فلا يبين لي صدقه بضرورة العقل ولا أثق بالنظر وكم من أصناف الخلائق شاهدوا ذلك وأنكروه فحمله بعضهم على السحر والمخرقة وبعضهم على غيره فلعلكم تشبعون غصته بان تقولوا له قلد الامام المعصوم ولا تسأل عن السبب فيقول ولم لا اقلد المخالفين لكم في إنكار النبوة والعصمة وهل بينهما فرق من طول لحية او بياض وجه الى غير ذلك مما هذوا به وهذا قلب لو اجتمع اولهم مع آخرهم على الخلاص منه دون الامر بالتفكر والنظر في الدليل لم يجدوا اليه سبيلا