الفِتنَةُ Trial and Temptation

1ـ الكافي عن مُعمَّر بنِ خَلاّدٍ: سَمِعتُ أبا الحَسَنِ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) يقولُ: «الم * أحَسِبَ الناسُ أنْ يُتْرَكُوا أنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنّا وهُم لا يُفْتَنُونَ» ثُمّ قالَ لي: ما الفِتنَةُ ؟ قلتُ: جُعِلتُ فداكَ الذي عِندَنا الفِتنَةُ في الدِّينِ، فقالَ: يُفتَنُونَ كما يُفتَنُ الذَّهبُ، ثُمّ قالَ: يُخلَصُونَ كما يُخلَصُ الذَّهبُ.


1– Mu`aammar b. Khallad said, ‘I heard Imam al-Rida (AS) say: “Alif, lam, mim. Do people imagine that they will be left off (on their own) saying: “We believe!” and they will not be tried”, and he then asked me, ‘What is trial?’ I said, ‘May my soul be sacrificed for you, what I know is that it is to be tested in religion.’ He said, ‘They [the believers] will be tried the way gold is tried’, he then said, ‘They will be purified the way gold is purified.’[al-Kafi, v. 1, p. 370, no. 4]