Chain of the Light of Imāmat

Excerpt:
When the people of an age do not have spiritual access to the Imām of the time, the ḥudūd, who have already been mentioned, are appointed by the Imām to convey the light of his guidance to them. Among the physical ḥudūd, the Ḥujjat-i a’ẓam corresponds to the moon and the other Ḥujjats, Dā’īs and Ma’ẓūns correspond to the stars and give the light of religious knowledge to the world of religion. But when the Imām of the time is close to the people to give them the light of religious knowledge directly, the physical ḥudūd are not apparent. But just as it is true that during the day the moon and the stars do not vanish and are still there, we do not need to obtain their light, similarly, the ḥudūd are also always there, illumined themselves from the light of the Imām, even though we do not need to receive their light of knowledge. The example of the Ḥujjat is like that of the moon, as God says:  “And when the stars darken” (81:2); “And when the moon is eclipsed, and the sun and the moon are united” (75:8-9). This is the sign of the invisibility of the physical ḥudūd. That is, at the approach of the Day of Resurrection, other than the Imām, the rest of the physical ḥudūd will not be apparent and the Ḥujjat will be united with the Imām. 

This excerpt has been taken from page 61.