al-Sharif al-Radi (d. 406 AH) · Thaqalayn library edition, reproduced verbatim
وَاعْلَمْ يَا بُنَيَّ أَنَّ أَحَبَّ مَا أَنْتَ آخِذٌ بِهِ إِلَيَّ مِنْ وَصِيَّتِي تَقْوَى اللهِ وَالِاقْتِصَارُ عَلَى مَا فَرَضَهُ اللهُ عَلَيْكَ، وَالْأَخْذُ بِمَا مَضَى عَلَيْهِ الْأَوَّلُونَ مِنْ آبَائِكَ، وَالصَّالِحُونَ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِكَ، فَإِنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَدَعُوا أَنْ نَظَرُوا لِأَنْفُسِهِمْ كَمَا أَنْتَ نَاظِرٌ، وَفَكَّرُوا كَمَا أَنْتَ مُفَكِّرٌ، ثُمَّ رَدَّهُمْ آخِرُ ذلِكَ إِلَى الْأَخْذِ بِمَا عَرَفُوا، وَالْإِمْسَاكِ عَمَّا لَمْ يُكَلَّفُوا، فَإِنْ أَبَتْ نَفْسُكَ أَنْ تَقْبَلَ ذلِكَ دُونَ أَنْ تَعْلَمَ كَمَا عَلِمُوا فَلْيَكُنْ طَلَبُكَ ذلِكَ بَتَفَهُّم وَتَعَلُّم، لَا بِتَوَرُّطِ الشُّبُهَاتِ، وَعُلَقِ الْخُصُومَاتِ.
Know O’ my child, that what I love most for you to adopt from my will is to fear Allāh, to confine yourself to what Allāh has made obligatory on you, and to follow the actions of your forefathers and the virtuous people of your household, because they did not fall short in seeing for themselves what you will see for yourself, and they did about their affairs as you would like to think (about your affairs). Thereafter, their thinking led them to discharge the obligations they came to know of and to desist from what they were not required to do. If your heart does not accept this without acquiring knowledge as they acquired it, then your search should first be by way of understanding and learning and not by falling into doubts or getting entangled in quarrels.
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