The Signs of the Mahdī’s Reappearance

[1] Imam al-Ṣādiq صلوات الله عليه is commenting here only on part of Sūrat al-Anʿām, verse 158. The verse ends with ﴾Say, ‘Wait! We too are waiting!’﴿, using the same root connoting waiting as the word in the Imam’s statement, « المنتظرة ». There is some subtle textual interplay here: the aforementioned end of 6:158, in which Allāh and His Apostle صلى الله عليه وعلى آله implore the disbelievers to wait as the Apostle and those with him are themselves waiting, applies to all of the signs that will come (the Imams, as explained in this tradition), yet Imam al-Ṣādiq singles Imam al-Mahdī صلوات الله عليهما out as the awaited sign. In a literal sense, there is still no contradiction here, as the Qurʾān was revealed to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله alone and all of the Imams were yet to come (think of the difference between a speaking (ناطق) Imam and a silent (صامت) one). But, above all, this report provides grounding in the Qurʾān for the first report in chapter 3 of the Addendum (“The Imamate of the Qāʾim عليه السلام”), in which Imam al-Ṣādiq confirms that the Qāʾim himself عجل الله فرجه is an Imam, completing the circle.