Al-Kafi · Hadith 4

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Imams (a.s.) inherited the knowledge of the Holy prophet (s.a.) and all the prophets and their successors before them · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 33, Hadith 4

Original Arabic text

4ـ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْجَبَّارِ عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ يَحْيَى عَنْ شُعَيْبٍ الْحَدَّادِ عَنْ ضُرَيْسٍ الْكُنَاسِيِّ قَالَ كُنْتُ عِنْدَ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) وَعِنْدَهُ أَبُو بَصِيرٍ فَقَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) إِنَّ دَاوُدَ وَرِثَ عِلْمَ الانْبِيَاءِ وَإِنَّ سُلَيْمَانَ وَرِثَ دَاوُدَ وَإِنَّ مُحَمَّداً (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) وَرِثَ سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّا وَرِثْنَا مُحَمَّداً (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) وَإِنَّ عِنْدَنَا صُحُفَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَأَلْوَاحَ مُوسَى فَقَالَ أَبُو بَصِيرٍ إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْعِلْمُ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ لَيْسَ هَذَا هُوَ الْعِلْمَ إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ مَا يَحْدُثُ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ يَوْماً بِيَوْمٍ وَسَاعَةً بِسَاعَةٍ.

Published English translation

4. Ahmad ibn Idris has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan ibn Yahya from Shu‘ayb al-Haddad from Durays al-Kunasi who has said the following. “I was in the presence of abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) and abu Basir also was there. The Imams (a.s.) said, “David inherited the knowledge of the prophets. Solomon inherited David. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.) inherited Solomon and we inherited Muhammad (s.a.). With us are the pages of Abraham and the tablets of Moses.” Abu Basir then said, “This is the knowledge.” The Imams (a.s.) said, “O abu Muhammad, this is not the knowledge. The knowledge is what happens in the nights and in the days, day after day and hour after hour.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح على الظاهر

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (20/3)

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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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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