Al-Kafi · Hadith 17

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Statements and the Explicit Texts on Leadership with Divine Authority) of the Twelve Imams (a.s.) · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 126, Hadith 17

Original Arabic text

17. مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيى ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ ، عَنْ‌ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْعُصْفُرِيِّ ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ ثَابِتٍ ، عَنْ أَبِي الْجَارُودِ : عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ عليه‌السلام ، قَالَ : « قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى‌الله‌عليه‌وآله‌وسلم : إِنِّي واثْنَيْ عَشَرَ مِنْ وُلْدِي وأَنْتَ يَا عَلِيُّ زِرُّ الْأَرْضِ ـ يَعْنِي أَوْتَادَهَا وجِبَالَهَا ـ بِنَا أَوْتَدَ اللهُ الْأَرْضَ أَنْ تَسِيخَ بِأَهْلِهَا ، فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ الِاثْنَا عَشَرَ مِنْ ولْدِي ، سَاخَتِ الْأَرْضُ بِأَهْلِهَا ، ولَمْ يُنْظَرُوا ».”

Published English translation

17. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Muhammad ibn Ahmad from Muhammad ibn al-Hassan from Sa‘id al-‘Usfuriy from ‘Amran ibn Thabit from abu al-Jarud from abu Ja‘far (a.s.) who has said the following: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has said, ‘I and twelve persons from my descendants and you O Ali, are the securing anchor of the earth, that is, the pillars thereof and its ropes. Through us Allah has secured the earth from devouring the inhabitants. If all the twelve persons from my family will no longer be there, the earth will devour her inhabitants without delay.”

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 (6/232)

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

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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