Al-Kafi · Hadith 3

The Book about people with Divine Authority · Aspects of the Knowledge of the Imams (a.s.) · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 50, Hadith 3

Original Arabic text

3ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَمَّنْ حَدَّثَهُ عَنِ الْمُفَضَّلِ بْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ قُلْتُ لابِي الْحَسَنِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) رُوِّينَا عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) أَنَّهُ قَالَ إِنَّ عِلْمَنَا غَابِرٌ وَمَزْبُورٌ وَنَكْتٌ فِي الْقُلُوبِ وَنَقْرٌ فِي الاسْمَاعِ فَقَالَ أَمَّا الْغَابِرُ فَمَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ عِلْمِنَا وَأَمَّا الْمَزْبُورُ فَمَا يَأْتِينَا وَأَمَّا النَّكْتُ فِي الْقُلُوبِ فَإِلْهَامٌ وَأَمَّا النَّقْرُ فِي الاسْمَاعِ فَأَمْرُ الْمَلَكِ.

Published English translation

3. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from the person who narrated (it) to him from al-Mufaddal ibn ‘Umar who has said that he said to abu al-Hassan (a.s.) the following. “We narrate from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) that he has said, ‘Our knowledge consists (of the knowledge of the things) of past, of the written nature, that which is dotted in the hearts and that which is struck against the ears. He then said, “As for that about the matters of the past is that which is passed our knowledge. That which is written is the kind that will come in future. That which is dotted into the hearts is the inspired kind and that which is struck against the ears is the order of the angel.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف على المشهور

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/138)

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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