Al-Kafi · Hadith 4

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The birth of abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 121, Hadith 4

Original Arabic text

4ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ جُمْهُورٍ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله عَنِ الْغِفَارِيِّ قَالَ كَانَ لِرَجُلٍ مِنْ آلِ أَبِي رَافِعٍ مَوْلَى النَّبِيِّ (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) يُقَالُ لَهُ طَيْسٌ عَلَيَّ حَقٌّ فَتَقَاضَانِي وَأَلَحَّ عَلَيَّ وَأَعَانَهُ النَّاسُ فَلَمَّا رَأَيْتُ ذَلِكَ صَلَّيْتُ الصُّبْحَ فِي مَسْجِدِ الرَّسُولِ (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) ثُمَّ تَوَجَّهْتُ نَحْوَ الرِّضَا (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) وَهُوَ يَوْمَئِذٍ بِالْعُرَيْضِ فَلَمَّا قَرُبْتُ مِنْ بَابِهِ إِذَا هُوَ قَدْ طَلَعَ عَلَى حِمَارٍ وَعَلَيْهِ قَمِيصٌ وَرِدَاءٌ فَلَمَّا نَظَرْتُ إِلَيْهِ اسْتَحْيَيْتُ مِنْهُ فَلَمَّا لَحِقَنِي وَقَفَ وَنَظَرَ إِلَيَّ فَسَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ وَكَانَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ فَقُلْتُ جَعَلَنِيَ الله فِدَاكَ إِنَّ لِمَوْلاكَ طَيْسٍ عَلَيَّ حَقّاً وَقَدْ وَالله شَهَرَنِي وَأَنَا أَظُنُّ فِي نَفْسِي أَنَّهُ يَأْمُرُهُ بِالْكَفِّ عَنِّي وَوَ الله مَا قُلْتُ لَهُ كَمْ لَهُ عَلَيَّ وَلا سَمَّيْتُ لَهُ شَيْئاً فَأَمَرَنِي بِالْجُلُوسِ إِلَى رُجُوعِهِ فَلَمْ أَزَلْ حَتَّى صَلَّيْتُ الْمَغْرِبَ وَأَنَا صَائِمٌ فَضَاقَ صَدْرِي وَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَنْصَرِفَ فَإِذَا هُوَ قَدْ طَلَعَ عَلَيَّ وَحَوْلَهُ النَّاسُ وَقَدْ قَعَدَ لَهُ السُّؤَّالُ وَهُوَ يَتَصَدَّقُ عَلَيْهِمْ فَمَضَى وَدَخَلَ بَيْتَهُ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ وَدَعَانِي فَقُمْتُ إِلَيْهِ وَدَخَلْتُ مَعَهُ فَجَلَسَ وَجَلَسْتُ فَجَعَلْتُ أُحَدِّثُهُ عَنِ ابْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ وَكَانَ أَمِيرَ الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ كَثِيراً مَا أُحَدِّثُهُ عَنْهُ فَلَمَّا فَرَغْتُ قَالَ لا أَظُنُّكَ أَفْطَرْتَ بَعْدُ فَقُلْتُ لا فَدَعَا لِي بِطَعَامٍ فَوُضِعَ بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ وَأَمَرَ الْغُلامَ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ مَعِي فَأَصَبْتُ وَالْغُلامَ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ فَلَمَّا فَرَغْنَا قَالَ لِيَ ارْفَعِ الْوِسَادَةَ وَخُذْ مَا تَحْتَهَا فَرَفَعْتُهَا وَإِذَا دَنَانِيرُ فَأَخَذْتُهَا وَوَضَعْتُهَا فِي كُمِّي وَأَمَرَ أَرْبَعَةً مِنْ عَبِيدِهِ أَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعِي حَتَّى يُبْلِغُونِي مَنْزِلِي فَقُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ إِنَّ طَائِفَ بْنَ الْمُسَيَّبِ يَدُورُ وَأَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَلْقَانِي وَمَعِي عَبِيدُكَ فَقَالَ لِي أَصَبْتَ أَصَابَ الله بِكَ الرَّشَادَ وَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَنْصَرِفُوا إِذَا رَدَدْتُهُمْ فَلَمَّا قَرُبْتُ مِنْ مَنْزِلِي وَآنَسْتُ رَدَدْتُهُمْ فَصِرْتُ إِلَى مَنْزِلِي وَدَعَوْتُ بِالسِّرَاجِ وَنَظَرْتُ إِلَى الدَّنَانِيرِ وَإِذَا هِيَ ثَمَانِيَةٌ وَأَرْبَعُونَ دِينَاراً وَكَانَ حَقُّ الرَّجُلِ عَلَيَّ ثَمَانِيَةً وَعِشْرِينَ دِينَاراً وَكَانَ فِيهَا دِينَارٌ يَلُوحُ فَأَعْجَبَنِي حُسْنُهُ فَأَخَذْتُهُ وَقَرَّبْتُهُ مِنَ السِّرَاجِ فَإِذَا عَلَيْهِ نَقْشٌ وَاضِحٌ حَقُّ الرَّجُلِ ثَمَانِيَةٌ وَعِشْرُونَ دِينَاراً وَمَا بَقِيَ فَهُوَ لَكَ وَلا وَالله مَا عَرَفْتُ مَا لَهُ عَلَيَّ وَالْحَمْدُ لله رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ الَّذِي أَعَزَّ وَلِيَّهُ.

Published English translation

4. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from ibn Jumhur from Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdallah from Ahmad ibn ‘Abdallah from al-Ghifari who has said the following. “I owed money to a man from the family of abu Rafi‘, slave of the Holy Prophet (s.a), called Tays. He demanded payment and pressed me hard and people also assisted him. When I found myself in such condition I prayed the morning prayer in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah and then headed to al-Rida (a.s.) who was in al-‘Arid those days. When I almost reached his door he appeared on his donkey wearing a shirt and a gown. When I looked at him I felt shy. When he approached me he looked at me and I offered him the greeting of peace. It was the month of Ramadan. I said, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, I owe money to your slave, Tays and he has defamed me. I thought he will order him to stop pressuring me and by Allah, I did not tell him how much I owed nor I mentioned any amount. He ordered me to sit until he will return. I remained there until said my sun set prayer and I was fasting. I became depressed and I thought of returning home. At that time he appeared before me with people around him. He was surrounded by the beggars and would give them charity. He passed by and entered his house. Then he came out and called me inside. We both sat down and I began to speak to him about ibn al-Musayyib, the governor of Madina as I would speak to him about the governor often. When I finished he said, “I do not think you had any break fast yet. I said, “No, I did not break fast yet.” He asked for food and ordered the boy to join me at the table. I and the boy had our meal and when we finished he said to me, “Lift up the furnishing and pick up whatever is underneath.” I lifted it up and found Dinars therein. I picked them up and place in my pocket. He ordered four of his slaves to escort me to my house. I said, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, the spies of ibn al-Musayyib check around all the time and I do not like them to see me with your slaves. He said, “You are right, may Allah keep you rightly guided.” He ordered them to return whenever I wanted them to do so.” When almost reached my house and felt safe I asked them to go back I went home and asked for a lamp. I looked at the Dinars and there were forty-eight of them, I owed twenty eight to the man. Among them one Dinar caught my sight and picked it up and brought near the lamp. I found a clear mark on it that said, “Payment to the man twenty-eight Dinars and the rest for your self.” By Allah, I did not know how much I owed him. All praise belong to Allah Who has granted honor to those who He has give authority.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (6/75)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

Source, rights, and attribution

dataset Name: Thaqalayn public library, via ThaqalaynAPI snapshot
source Url: https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/1/4/121/4
license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
imported At: 2026-10-18T21:36:12.871Z
license Url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
rights Statement Url: https://thaqalayn.com/terms
attribution: Source: Thaqalayn (Stichting Thaqalayn). Compiler: Shaykh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī. Translation: Muhammad Sarwar. Data transport: MohammedArab1/ThaqalaynAPI. No endorsement implied.
translator: Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
content Hash: 1fcff42a8956abf3f9cbcc980eff3d1b336dfc69ff4e76cacf27cc5c38ca6e6c
source File Hash: 30bc491c96eb3860f3d3dfe97f46353a88858d7cb9e06d662ebdd04252ac5a3e
original Source Url: https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/4/121/4
changes: Arabic and English texts preserved verbatim from pinned snapshot. Compiler introduction excluded where present; references mapped to fields; assessment whitespace trimmed; source-supplied English sanad retained separately. Search normalization is not applied to displayed text.
verification Note: Publisher content rights, translator attribution and structural checks, with independent publisher-page spot checks—not scholarly authentication or printed-edition collation. Historical text and scholarly reference strings may contain source errors; they are not silently corrected. No full commentary prose or inferred narrator identity is added. Muʿjam coverage, where present, is only the supplied excerpt, not the complete work.