protected against tampering by tyrants. Since the Quran is divinely protected, the tyrants will stop reading it and acting on its injunctions, and they will seize it from the people, as happened in the case of the other heavenl¥ books.٩ The phrase, accord‌ ingly, refers to the immunity of the Quran against alteration. This we shall discuss at greater length later. The same meaning is implied by the Prophets saying, further on, "With it, hearts will never deviate-that is to say, that personal desires cannot change it, in the sense that to deviate from the meaning of the Quran would be to change it. This, again, will be discussed at length when we present an exegesis of the relevant verses.
The tradition also alludes to the fact that if the Muslim community turns to the Quran to resolve its disputes and all the things that are incomprehensible to it in regard to its beliefs and actions, the Quran will surely point the way for it. The people will find that it is a fair judgment among them and the criterion by which truth is distin‌ guished from falsehood.
Indeed, if the Muslim community were to implement the limits of the Quran and
to follow its suggestions and exhortations, it would certainly know the truth and its people, and would acknowledge the rights of the Prophets descendants, whom the Prophet declared the peers of the Book. They are, indeed, the second vicegerent of the community after the Prophet. ١٠ If the community is to seek enlightenment from the Quranic sciences, it would certainly escape the painful doom and would not succumb to blindness, nor would it be overwhelmed by the darkness of ignorance. Not a single person would then deviate from the obligations ordained by God or slip off the straight path. But Muslims have stubbornly turned away from the Quran and followed their desires. They have rallied under the banner of falsehood, and matters have reached the point where Muslims accuse each other of disbelief and curry favor with God by killing other Muslims, violating the sanctity of their homes, and plundering their possessions. What greater proof could there be of the communitys neglect of the Quran than this deep disunity?
The Commander of the Faithful [Ali b. Abi Talib] describes the Quran as follows:

Then God revealed to him [the Prophet] the Book. It is a light whose radiance shall not be extinguished; a lamb whose flame shall not die; an ocean whose depth shall not be fathomed; a path which shall not lead astray; a blaze whose brilliance shall not be dark‌ ened; a criterion whose evidence shall not be suppressed; an elucidation whose cor‌ nerstones shall not be demolished; a cure with which there is no fear of ailments; a power whose supporters cannot be defeated; a truth whose helpers will not be forsaken. Thus, it is the source of faith and its prosperity; it is the fountainhead of knowledge and its vastness; the meadow of justice and its flowing streams; the support of Islam and its foundation; the valleys of the truth and its fields; an ocean that shall not be drained by those who draw upon it; a spring that shall not be exhausted by those who draw from it; a watering place that shall not be depleted by those who come to it; a station whose road the travelers do not miss; a signpost which the wayfarers will al‌ ways see; the hilltops that c١١-nnot be bypassed by those who seek them. God has made it the quencher of the thirst of scholars, a vernal season for the hearts of the jurists, a destination for the path of the righteous, a cure after which there is no malady, a light which does not alternate with darkness, a rope whose knots are firm, a stronghold whose peak is impregnable. It is [a source of] power for whoever cultivates it, peace for who‌ ever dwells on it, a guidance for whoever follows it, a laudable act for whoever em-