Imam Sadeqi (peace be upon him) says: someone came to the commander of the faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and said: " O Ali, I love you", Imam Ali (peace be upon him) looked down for some moments and didn't answer the person who has just expressed his love for him. Then he looked up and said: " you are laying", the man said: " how do you know that I am laying?, Are you in my heart?, love and affection have to do with heart, are you really in my heart?" then Imam said:" I don’t need to be in your heart to know that you love me or not, the time you said that you love me, I looked at the souls of all the men and women in the whole universe from the time of Hazrat Adam to the day of resurrection, and you were not among them, so you are laying. If Imam is other than this, then he is not a real Imam and he is like ordinary people. Imam is the one who is superior and ahead of all people in the universe.
source : erfan.ir
