Al-Kafi · Hadith 4

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Imams are Similar to those before them and the Dislikeability of Calling them Prophets · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 53, Hadith 4

Original Arabic text

4ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ الْمُخْتَارِ عَنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ قَالَ قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) إِنَّ عَلِيّاً (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) كَانَ مُحَدَّثاً فَقُلْتُ فَتَقُولُ نَبِيٌّ قَالَ فَحَرَّكَ بِيَدِهِ هَكَذَا ثُمَّ قَالَ أَوْ كَصَاحِبِ سُلَيْمَانَ أَوْ كَصَاحِبِ مُوسَى أَوْ كَذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ أَ وَمَا بَلَغَكُمْ أَنَّهُ قَالَ وَفِيكُمْ مِثْلُهُ.

Published English translation

4. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from al-Husayn ibn al-Mukhtar from al-Harith ibn al-Mughirah who has said that abu Ja‘far (a.s.) has said the following. “Ali (a.s.) was a Muhaddith (i.e. those who are spoken to and inspired by the angels).” The narrator said that he then asked the Imam (a.s.), “Do you mean that he was a prophet?” The narrator said that the Imam (a.s.) then made a gesture of denial with his hand like this, and then said, “Rather, he is like the companion of Solomon, or like the the companion of Moses or like Dhul Qarnayn. Has it not reached you that he [the Prophet] said, “Among you is one similar to him (Dhul Qarnayn).”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: موثق

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/157)

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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