Enlightening Points Deduced from the Holy Quran about Leadership with Divine Authority)

78. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Sayf from his father from ‘Amr ibn Harith who has said the following. “I asked abu ‘Abdallah عليه السلام about the words of Allah. “. . a blessed tree which has firm roots and branches rising up into the sky.” (14:24) The Imam عليه السلام said that the The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم said, “The root is Amir al-Mu’minin Ali عليه السلام and the branches are the Imams from their (Amir al-Mu’minin عليه السلام and The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم descendants and the knowledge of Imams stand for the fruits. Their faithful followers represent the leaves of such tree.” The Imam عليه السلام asked, “Is there anything else in the tree?” I said, “No, there is nothing else there. The Imam عليه السلام then said, “By Allah, when a faithful is given a child a leave grows in the tree and when a faithful dies a leave falls off the tree.”