Al-Kafi · Hadith 4

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Imams (a.s.) hear from the angels as Muhaddathun and are of Perfect Understanding · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 54, Hadith 4

Original Arabic text

4ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ يُونُسَ عَنْ رَجُلٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ ذُكِرَ الْمُحَدَّثُ عِنْدَ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) فَقَالَ إِنَّهُ يَسْمَعُ الصَّوْتَ وَلا يَرَى الشَّخْصَ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ كَيْفَ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ كَلامُ الْمَلَكِ قَالَ إِنَّهُ يُعْطَى السَّكِينَةَ وَالْوَقَارَ حَتَّى يَعْلَمَ أَنَّهُ كَلامُ مَلَكٍ.

Published English translation

4. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Yunus from a man that Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following. “Once Muhaddath was mentioned in the presence of abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) and he said, “He, Muhaddath, hears the voice but does not see the persons of the angels.” I then said to him, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, how he would come to know that the voice and words are from the angels?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “He is given the serenity and dignity to the level that he learns about its being the speech of the angels.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مرسل

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/164)

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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