Al-Kafi · Hadith 7

The Book about people with Divine Authority · The rise of al-Mahdi with Divine Authority earlier or later will not affect one who has learned who his Imam is · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 84, Hadith 7

Original Arabic text

7ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ فَضَالَةَ بْنِ أَيُّوبَ عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ أَبَانٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) يَقُولُ اعْرِفِ الْعَلامَةَ فَإِذَا عَرَفْتَهُ لَمْ يَضُرَّكَ تَقَدَّمَ هَذَا الامْرُ أَوْ تَأَخَّرَ إِنَّ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَقُولُ يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُناسٍ بِإِمامِهِمْ فَمَنْ عَرَفَ إِمَامَهُ كَانَ كَمَنْ كَانَ فِي فُسْطَاطِ الْمُنْتَظَرِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام )

Published English translation

7. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyadfrom al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Fudala ibn Ayyub from ‘Umar ibn Aban who has said the following. “I heard abu‘Abdallah (a.s.) say, ‘Find out (who the) sign (of Allah, the Imam) is. When you will find out and learn who he is then it will not harm you whether this matter (the rise of al-Mahdi with Divine Authority) will take place earlier or later. Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most gracious, has said, ““On the day when We call every nation with their leaders, Imams. .” (17:71). One who knows who his Imam is he would be just like the one who would present in the tents of al-Mahdi (a.s.).”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف على المشهور

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (4/190)

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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