Question: Ali (Peace be Upon Him) said: Allah, the Exalted, must have a proof—either manifest and well-known, or fearful and obscure—this is the meaning of his saying; so how is the proof of Allah, the Exalted, completed over His servants by the fearful obscure one?
The answer—and Allah is the One Who grants success: Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has clarified in His Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) the place of His proof and its location with a clear clarification in which there is no ambiguity; and that place and location is his Household (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace).
And if the proof of Allah is fearful and obscure, unknown to the morally responsible, then they will find what they seek with the scholars of the Household of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), for the proof of Allah does not go beyond them.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3