It means knowing the Imam of every time whose.......

Mar 15, '13 10:48 AM for everyone

Bismillah Arrahman Arraheem

In Ilalush Sharai, it is narrated from Imām Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq (a.s.) that,

one day Imām Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a.s.) went to his companions and said: 

"O People! Allah (s.w.t) has not created His servants for any other purpose except that they may know Him. When they will know Him they will worship Him and when they will worship Him this worship of His will make them needless of worshipping others."

Hearing this someone asked: 

O son of the holy Messenger! May my parents be sacrificed for you, what does the recognition (Ma’refat) of Allah means? 

Imām Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a.s.) replied: 

"It means knowing the Imam of every time whose obedience is compulsory for the people."

[Reference: HAYAT AL-QULUB, Vol 3, Pg 73]