Ali replied: "He used to know the meaning of Gods saying, He who has given you the Quran for law will surely take you back to a place of homing" (Q. ٢٨:٨٥). ٣٠
The traditions regarding the merits of contemplating the Quran are numerous. Volume ١٩ of Majlisis Bi/:tlir al-Anwlir includes a large number of these traditions. However, the merit of contemplating the Quran does not require research on the traditions. This is because the Quran is the Book which God revealed as a law for people to follow in their worldly affairs, and to illuminate, with its beacon, their path to their Hereafter. These results would not be attained without contemplating the Quran and pondering its meanings-and this is something which reason determines; and what is contained in the revealed text regarding it only points the way to it.
Kulaynis al-Klifireports that al-Zuhri said:

I heard the Imam Ali [Zayn a!-Abidin], son of the Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon them both), say: "The verses of the Quran are stores of treasure. Thus, whenever you open one of them, it is necessary for you to see what is inside it.٣١

NOTES

I. Tawatur (successively, uninterruptedly) is a technical term connected with the trans‌ mission of the Quran and the Prophetic tradition (/:ladfth). A mutawatir transmission is one that has been communicated by a large number of narrators whose agreement on a falsehood is inconceivable. This condition must be established in the entire chain of transmission (isnad), in every generation. In other words, it should have been reported uninterruptedly and suc‌ cessively. Once this condition is met, the authenticity of the transmission becomes generally acceptable. Hence, some scholars translate tawatur as "universally acceptable."- Trans.
٢. Muhammad b. Yaqub al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi: al-U$al wa al-Rawrja, ed. Ali Akbar al‌
Ghaffari, ١٢ vo١s. (Tehran: A١-Maktabat al-ls١amiyya, ١٩٦٣-٦٨) vol. ١, pp. ١٠٢-٥.
٣. Mul:lammad Baqir al-Majlisi, Bi/:lar al-Anwar, ١١٠ vols. (Tehran: Al-Maktabat al‌ Islamiyya, ١٩٤٢- ), vol. ٩٢, Kitab al-Quran, p. ١٩; Mul:lammad b. lsa al-Tirmidhi, Al-Jami al-$a/:l!/:l, in Mul:lammad b. AbdAllah ibn al-Arabi al-Ahwazi, Arif/,at al-Ahwaz! bi-Shar/:١
$a/:l!/:l al-Tirmidhl, ١٢ vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Ilm lil-Jaml, [١٩٧٢]), vol. ١١, p. ٤٧.
٤. Tirmidhi, $a/:ll/:l, vol. ١٣, pp. ٢٠٠-١. The /:ladfth about the "two weighty things" has been related by major Sunni traditionists, including Al:lmad b. Mul:lammad b. l:fanbal, Al‌ Musnad, ٢٠ vols. (Cairo: Dar al-Maarif, [١٩٥٨]) vol. ٣, pp. ١٤, ١٧, ٢٦, and ٥٩, on the author‌ ity of Abu Said al-Khu\lari; in vol. ٤, pp. ٣٦٦ and ٣٧١, on the authority ofZayd b. Arqam; in vol. ٥, pp. ١٨٢ and ١٨٩, on the authority of Zayd b. Thabit. See also, AbdAllah b. Abd al‌ Ral:lman al-Darimi, Sunan al-Diirim!, ed. AbdAllah Hashim Yamani, ٢ vols. (Cairo: Dar al‌ Mal:lasin lil-Tibaa, ١٩٦٦), vol. ٢, p. ٤٣١, in the section on the merits of the Quran. Further, Jalal ai-Din Abd al-Ral:lman b. Abi Bakr al-Suyuti, Al-Jamial-$aghlr, ٢ vols. (Beirut: Dar ai-Kutub al-Alarniya, n.d.), relates and authenticates the tradition on the authority of al-Tabrani (going back to Zayd b. Thabit). AI-Allama ai-Manawi, in his commentary on Suyup sJami , vol. ٣, p. ١٥, says that, according to Haythami, all the persons mentioned in the chain of trans‌ mission of this tradition are reliable. The tradition has also been related by al-l:fakim al‌ Nisaburi, Al-Mustadrak ala al-$a/:ll/:layn, ٤ vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, n.d.), vol. ٣, p. ١٠٩, on the authority ofZayd b. Arqam, and has been accredited. Although there are varia‌ tions in its wording, there is agreement on its meaning among the traditionists.
٥. l:farith b. AbdAllah al-Awar al-Hamadani is, according to the consensus among the lmamite scholars, one of the most prominent associates of Ali b. Abi Talib, known for his