Al-Kafi · Hadith 5

The Book about people with Divine Authority · Chapter Ninety Seven of the Holy Quran and its interpretation · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 41, Hadith 5

Original Arabic text

5ـ وَعَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَالَ كَانَ علي (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) كَثِيراً مَا يَقُولُ مَا اجْتَمَعَ التَّيْمِيُّ وَالْعَدَوِيُّ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) وَهُوَ يَقْرَأُ إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ بِتَخَشُّعٍ وَبُكَاءٍ فَيَقُولانِ مَا أَشَدَّ رِقَّتَكَ لِهَذِهِ السُّورَةِ فَيَقُولُ رَسُولُ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) لِمَا رَأَتْ عَيْنِي وَوَعَى قَلْبِي وَلِمَا يَرَى قَلْبُ هَذَا مِنْ بَعْدِي فَيَقُولانِ وَمَا الَّذِي رَأَيْتَ وَمَا الَّذِي يَرَى قَالَ فَيَكْتُبُ لَهُمَا فِي التُّرَابِ تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيها بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ قَالَ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ هَلْ بَقِيَ شَيْ‏ءٌ بَعْدَ قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ فَيَقُولانِ لا فَيَقُولُ هَلْ تَعْلَمَانِ مَنِ الْمُنْزَلُ إِلَيْهِ بِذَلِكَ فَيَقُولانِ أَنْتَ يَا رَسُولَ الله فَيَقُولُ نَعَمْ فَيَقُولُ هَلْ تَكُونُ لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ مِنْ بَعْدِي فَيَقُولانِ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَيَقُولُ فَهَلْ يَنْزِلُ ذَلِكَ الامْرُ فِيهَا فَيَقُولانِ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَيَقُولُ إِلَى مَنْ فَيَقُولانِ لا نَدْرِي فَيَأْخُذُ بِرَأْسِي وَيَقُولُ إِنْ لَمْ تَدْرِيَا فَادْرِيَا هُوَ هَذَا مِنْ بَعْدِي قَالَ فَإِنْ كَانَا لَيَعْرِفَانِ تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَةَ بَعْدَ رَسُولِ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) مِنْ شِدَّةِ مَا يُدَاخِلُهُمَا مِنَ الرُّعْبِ.

Published English translation

5. Through the same chain of narrators it is narrated from abu Ja‘far (a.s.) who has said the following. “Ali (a.s.) would say very often, “(What for) al-Taymies and al-‘Adawies have gathered around the Messenger of Allah (s.a.). He, the Messenger of Allah, would read, “We have revealed it on the Night of Determination” very humbly and tearfully. They (al-Taymi and al-‘Adwi) would say, “How intense is the tenderness that this chapter causes to your heart.” The Messenger of Allah would say, “It is because what my eyes see and my heart has stored and for what the heart of this (Ali (a.s.) will experience after me.” They would ask, “What is it that you have seen and what is it that he will experience?” The narrator has said that he would write for the two on the soil, “On this Night, the angels and the spirit descend by the permission of their Lord with His decree (to determine everyone’s destiny).” (97:4) The narrator has said that he, the Messenger of Allah would say, “Has anything else left (untold) after of Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, All matters?” The two would say, “No, nothing is left untold.” He then would ask them, “Do you know to who it will be revealed?” The two would say, “To you, O the Messenger of Allah.” He then would say, “Will there be the Night of Determination after me?” The two would say, “Yes, there will be that night.” He then would ask, “To who (the angels and the Spirit will come)?” The two would say, “We do not know.” He then would hold my head and say, “If the two of you do not know now you must know, he is this after me.” The narrator has said that it is certain that the two would know that night, after the Messenger of Allah, because of the sever apprehension that they would go through.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مثل السند السابق

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/86)

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.

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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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