Hadith collections / Al-Kafi

Al-Kafi · Hadith 8

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The Criterion to Discern the Truthful and False Claims of Entitlement to Imamat (Leadership with Divine Authority) · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 81, Hadith 8

Original Arabic text

8ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ فُلانٍ الْوَاقِفِيِّ قَالَ كَانَ لِيَ ابْنُ عَمٍّ يُقَالُ لَهُ الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الله كَانَ زَاهِداً وَكَانَ مِنْ أَعْبَدِ أَهْلِ زَمَانِهِ وَكَانَ يَتَّقِيهِ السُّلْطَانُ لِجِدِّهِ فِي الدِّينِ وَاجْتِهَادِهِ وَرُبَّمَا اسْتَقْبَلَ السُّلْطَانَ بِكَلامٍ صَعْبٍ يَعِظُهُ وَيَأْمُرُهُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَكَانَ السُّلْطَانُ يَحْتَمِلُهُ لِصَلاحِهِ وَلَمْ تَزَلْ هَذِهِ حَالَتَهُ حَتَّى كَانَ يَوْمٌ مِنَ الايَّامِ إِذْ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ أَبُو الْحَسَنِ مُوسَى (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) وَهُوَ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ فَرَآهُ فَأَوْمَأَ إِلَيْهِ فَأَتَاهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ يَا أَبَا عَلِيٍّ مَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مَا أَنْتَ فِيهِ وَأَسَرَّنِي إِلا أَنَّهُ لَيْسَتْ لَكَ مَعْرِفَةٌ فَاطْلُبِ الْمَعْرِفَةَ قَالَ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ وَمَا الْمَعْرِفَةُ قَالَ اذْهَبْ فَتَفَقَّهْ وَاطْلُبِ الْحَدِيثَ قَالَ عَمَّنْ قَالَ عَنْ فُقَهَاءِ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ ثُمَّ اعْرِضْ عَلَيَّ الْحَدِيثَ قَالَ فَذَهَبَ فَكَتَبَ ثُمَّ جَاءَهُ فَقَرَأَهُ عَلَيْهِ فَأَسْقَطَهُ كُلَّهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ اذْهَبْ فَاعْرِفِ الْمَعْرِفَةَ وَكَانَ الرَّجُلُ مَعْنِيّاً بِدِينِهِ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَتَرَصَّدُ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) حَتَّى خَرَجَ إِلَى ضَيْعَةٍ لَهُ فَلَقِيَهُ فِي الطَّرِيقِ فَقَالَ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ إِنِّي أَحْتَجُّ عَلَيْكَ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ الله فَدُلَّنِي عَلَى الْمَعْرِفَةِ قَالَ فَأَخْبَرَهُ بِأَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) وَمَا كَانَ بَعْدَ رَسُولِ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) وَأَخْبَرَهُ بِأَمْرِ الرَّجُلَيْنِ فَقَبِلَ مِنْهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ فَمَنْ كَانَ بَعْدَ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَالَ الْحَسَنُ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) ثُمَّ الْحُسَيْنُ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) حَتَّى انْتَهَى إِلَى نَفْسِهِ ثُمَّ سَكَتَ قَالَ فَقَالَ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَمَنْ هُوَ الْيَوْمَ قَالَ إِنْ أَخْبَرْتُكَ تَقْبَلُ قَالَ بَلَى جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ قَالَ أَنَا هُوَ قَالَ فَشَيْ‏ءٌ أَسْتَدِلُّ بِهِ قَالَ اذْهَبْ إِلَى تِلْكَ الشَّجَرَةِ وَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ إِلَى أُمِّ غَيْلانَ فَقُلْ لَهَا يَقُولُ لَكِ مُوسَى بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ أَقْبِلِي قَالَ فَأَتَيْتُهَا فَرَأَيْتُهَا وَالله تَخُدُّ الارْضَ خَدّاً حَتَّى وَقَفَتْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ ثُمَّ أَشَارَ إِلَيْهَا فَرَجَعَتْ قَالَ فَأَقَرَّ بِهِ ثُمَّ لَزِمَ الصَّمْتَ وَالْعِبَادَةَ فَكَانَ لا يَرَاهُ أَحَدٌ يَتَكَلَّمُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ. مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى وَأَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ هَاشِمٍ مِثْلَهُ.

Published English translation

8. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Muhammad from Muhammad ibn so and so al-Waqifi ( a certain sect) who has said the following. “I had a son of uncle. He wascalled al-Hassan ibn ‘Abdallah He was Zahid (restricted himself from worldly pleasures). He was the foremost in worship of his time. He king would also observe cautions due to his assiduousness and seriousness in the matters of religion. He would even demand the king to respect and maintain the lawful and the unlawful rule with strictness. The king would bear with him due to his virtuousness. It continued as such every day until one day abu al-Hassan (a.s.) went to him while he was in the mosque and called him with a hand gesture. When he came near abu al-Hassan (a.s.). The Imam (a.s.) said, “O abu Ali, I like your practice very much and it makes me happy. However, you do not have any understanding. You must seek understanding.” He said, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, what is understanding?” he said, “Go and try to understand and learn hadith.” He then asked, “From who must I learn hadith?” The Imam (a.s.) said, ‘Learn from the law specialist of Madina. Then read them before me to check.” The narrator has said that he went, wrote (some hadith), came back and read them before him. The Imam (a.s.) deleted all of them and said to him go and learn how to understand.” The man was very serious in his religion. He kept watching abu al-Hassan (a.s.) until one day he went out to find something that was missing and the man met him on the way. He said, May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, I will debate you before Allah unless you teach me how to have understanding.” The Imam (a.s.) explained to him about Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.) and had happened after the the Messenger of Allah. He also explained to him about the two men and he agreed. Then he asked, “who was (Leadership with Divine Authority) after Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.)?” He said, “al-Hassan (a.s.) was the (Leadership with Divine Authority), then al-Husayn (a.s.). He mentioned (the Imams one after the other) up to his own self and remained silent.” The narrator has said that the man then asked, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, who is (Leadership with Divine Authority) today?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “were I to tell you would then accept?” he said, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, yes, I will accept.” He sad, “I am the one (Leadership with Divine Authority).” He then said, “Is there any evidence I can use as proof?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “Go to that tree. He pointed out with his hand to ’Umm Ghaylan and say to it, “Musa ibn Ja’far says, ‘Come to me.” He has said that I then went to the tree and saw it, by Allah, it cutting the earth a real cut until it stood before him. Then he made a gesture and it returned.” The narrator has said that he acknowledged the his Imamat (Leadership with Divine Authority). He remained silent and devoted himself in worship and no one thereafter saw him speak.” Muhammad ibn Yahya and Ahmad ibn Muhammad have narrated from Mutammad ibn al-Hassan from Ibrahim ibn Hashim a similar hadith.

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول بسنديه

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (4/97)

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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Thaqalayn public library, via ThaqalaynAPI snapshot
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https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/1/4/81/8
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edition
Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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2026-10-18T21:36:12.871Z
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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https://thaqalayn.com/terms
attribution
Source: Thaqalayn (Stichting Thaqalayn). Compiler: Shaykh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī. Translation: Muhammad Sarwar. Data transport: MohammedArab1/ThaqalaynAPI. No endorsement implied.
translator
Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision
becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
content Hash
587edb98e0f6be63cf844d358c7e12d86ac737e3c18c4ed37a278bd65c1323ae
source File Hash
30bc491c96eb3860f3d3dfe97f46353a88858d7cb9e06d662ebdd04252ac5a3e
original Source Url
https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/4/81/8
changes
Arabic and English texts preserved verbatim from pinned snapshot. Compiler introduction excluded where present; references mapped to fields; assessment whitespace trimmed; source-supplied English sanad retained separately. Search normalization is not applied to displayed text.
verification Note
Publisher content rights, translator attribution and structural checks, with independent publisher-page spot checks—not scholarly authentication or printed-edition collation. Historical text and scholarly reference strings may contain source errors; they are not silently corrected. No full commentary prose or inferred narrator identity is added. Muʿjam coverage, where present, is only the supplied excerpt, not the complete work.