Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Issue of Disappearance (of the twelfth Imam (a.s.) from Public Sight · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 80, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى وَالْحَسَنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ جَمِيعاً عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الْكُوفِيِّ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّيْرَفِيِّ عَنْ صَالِحِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ يَمَانٍ التَّمَّارِ قَالَ كُنَّا عِنْدَ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) جُلُوساً فَقَالَ لَنَا إِنَّ لِصَاحِبِ هَذَا الامْرِ غَيْبَةً الْمُتَمَسِّكُ فِيهَا بِدِينِهِ كَالْخَارِطِ لِلْقَتَادِ ثُمَّ قَالَ هَكَذَا بِيَدِهِ فَأَيُّكُمْ يُمْسِكُ شَوْكَ الْقَتَادِ بِيَدِهِ ثُمَّ أَطْرَقَ مَلِيّاً ثُمَّ قَالَ إِنَّ لِصَاحِبِ هَذَا الامْرِ غَيْبَةً فَلْيَتَّقِ الله عَبْدٌ وَلْيَتَمَسَّكْ بِدِينِهِ.

Published English translation

1. Muhammad ibn Yahya and al-Hassan ibn Muhammad both have narrated from Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Kufi from al-Hassan ibn Muhammad al-Sayrafi from Salih ibn Khalid from Yaman al-Tammar who has said the following. “Once we were in the presence of abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) and he said to us, “The in charge of this task (Leadership with Divine Authority) will disappear from public sight. At that time following one’s religion would like wiping the thorns of cactus plant with one’s bare. The Imam (a.s.) made certain hand gestures. Who among you is ready to hold in his hands a branch of cactus? He then remained quite for a little while and then said, “The in charge of this task (Leadership with Divine Authority) will disappear from public sight. A servant (of Allah) must maintain piety before Him and hold fast to His religion,”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول أو ضعيف على المشهور

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (4/33)

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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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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