Al-Kafi · Hadith 6

The Book about people with Divine Authority · Tacit and Explicit Testimony as proof of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali’s (a.s.) Divine Authority over the people after the Messenger of Allah · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 65, Hadith 6

Original Arabic text

6ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ عَنْ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَالَ كَانَ فِي ذُؤَابَةِ سَيْفِ رَسُولِ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) صَحِيفَةٌ صَغِيرَةٌ فَقُلْتُ لابِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) أَيُّ شَيْ‏ءٍ كَانَ فِي تِلْكَ الصَّحِيفَةِ قَالَ هِيَ الاحْرُفُ الَّتِي يَفْتَحُ كُلُّ حَرْفٍ أَلْفَ حَرْفٍ قَالَ أَبُو بَصِيرٍ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) فَمَا خَرَجَ مِنْهَا حَرْفَانِ حَتَّى السَّاعَةِ.

Published English translation

6. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam from Ali ibn abu Hamza from abu Basir from au ‘Abdallah (a.s.) who has said the following. “In the hilt of the sword of the the Messenger of Allah there was a small booklet.” The narrator has said that then he asked the Imam (a.s.), “What did that booklet contain?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “It contained the few letters of which each letter opened a thousand letters. Abu Basir has said that abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) then said, “Until this hour not even two letters have come out (their meanings understood, utilized and practiced).”

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 (3/287)

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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