Al-Kafi · Hadith 6

The Book about people with Divine Authority · When the Imam learns that Leadership with Divine Authority has come to him? · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 90, Hadith 6

Original Arabic text

6ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ مُسَافِرٍ قَالَ أَمَرَ أَبُو إِبْرَاهِيمَ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) حِينَ أُخْرِجَ بِهِ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) أَنْ يَنَامَ عَلَى بَابِهِ فِي كُلِّ لَيْلَةٍ أَبَداً مَا كَانَ حَيّاً إِلَى أَنْ يَأْتِيَهُ خَبَرُهُ قَالَ فَكُنَّا فِي كُلِّ لَيْلَةٍ نَفْرُشُ لابِي الْحَسَنِ فِي الدِّهْلِيزِ ثُمَّ يَأْتِي بَعْدَ الْعِشَاءِ فَيَنَامُ فَإِذَا أَصْبَحَ انْصَرَفَ إِلَى مَنْزِلِهِ قَالَ فَمَكَثَ عَلَى هَذِهِ الْحَالِ أَرْبَعَ سِنِينَ فَلَمَّا كَانَ لَيْلَةٌ مِنَ اللَّيَالِي أَبْطَأَ عَنَّا وَفُرِشَ لَهُ فَلَمْ يَأْتِ كَمَا كَانَ يَأْتِي فَاسْتَوْحَشَ الْعِيَالُ وَذُعِرُوا وَدَخَلَنَا أَمْرٌ عَظِيمٌ مِنْ إِبْطَائِهِ فَلَمَّا كَانَ مِنَ الْغَدِ أَتَى الدَّارَ وَدَخَلَ إِلَى الْعِيَالِ وَقَصَدَ إِلَى أُمِّ أَحْمَدَ فَقَالَ لَهَا هَاتِ الَّتِي أَوْدَعَكِ أَبِي فَصَرَخَتْ وَلَطَمَتْ وَجْهَهَا وَشَقَّتْ جَيْبَهَا وَقَالَتْ مَاتَ وَالله سَيِّدِي فَكَفَّهَا وَقَالَ لَهَا لا تَكَلَّمِي بِشَيْ‏ءٍ وَلا تُظْهِرِيهِ حَتَّى يَجِي‏ءَ الْخَبَرُ إِلَى الْوَالِي فَأَخْرَجَتْ إِلَيْهِ سَفَطاً وَأَلْفَيْ دِينَارٍ أَوْ أَرْبَعَةَ آلافِ دِينَارٍ فَدَفَعَتْ ذَلِكَ أَجْمَعَ إِلَيْهِ دُونَ غَيْرِهِ وَقَالَتْ إِنَّهُ قَالَ لِي فِيمَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهُ وَكَانَتْ أَثِيرَةً عِنْدَهُ احْتَفِظِي بِهَذِهِ الْوَدِيعَةِ عِنْدَكِ لا تُطْلِعِي عَلَيْهَا أَحَداً حَتَّى أَمُوتَ فَإِذَا مَضَيْتُ فَمَنْ أَتَاكِ مِنْ وُلْدِي فَطَلَبَهَا مِنْكِ فَادْفَعِيهَا إِلَيْهِ وَاعْلَمِي أَنِّي قَدْ مِتُّ وَقَدْ جَاءَنِي وَالله عَلامَةُ سَيِّدِي فَقَبَضَ ذَلِكَ مِنْهَا وَأَمَرَهُمْ بِالامْسَاكِ جَمِيعاً إِلَى أَنْ وَرَدَ الْخَبَرُ وَانْصَرَفَ فَلَمْ يَعُدْ لِشَيْ‏ءٍ مِنَ الْمَبِيتِ كَمَا كَانَ يَفْعَلُ فَمَا لَبِثْنَا إِلا أَيَّاماً يَسِيرَةً حَتَّى جَاءَتِ الْخَرِيطَةُ بِنَعْيِهِ فَعَدَدْنَا الايَّامَ وَتَفَقَّدْنَا الْوَقْتَ فَإِذَا هُوَ قَدْ مَاتَ فِي الْوَقْتِ الَّذِي فَعَلَ أَبُو الْحَسَنِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) مَا فَعَلَ مِنْ تَخَلُّفِهِ عَنِ الْمَبِيتِ وَقَبْضِهِ لِمَا قَبَضَ.

Published English translation

6. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Musafir who has said the following. “Abu Ibrahim commanded –at the time he was taken out to Baghdad- abu al-Hassan (a.s.) to sleep every night at his (abu Ibrahim’s) house until the coming of the news of his death. The narrator has said narrator has said that we would prepare the bed for abu al-Hassan every night in the terrace and he would come after the ‘Isha (late evening) to rest and in the morning he would leave for his own house. He has said that it continued for four years. One night he delayed and the bed was prepared for him. He did not come as usual and the family was alarmed and deeply saddened. His delay was a very great matter that overwhelmed us. In the morning he came to the house and went to the family room to ’Umm (mother of) Ahmad and said to her, “Bring me the things that my father had entrusted you with.” She began to cry, beat up her face and tear her clothe over her heart saying, “My master, by Allah, has passed away.” He stopped her and said, “Do not say any thing to any one and do not make it public before the news of his death comes to the governor.” She then brought a package, a two thousand and a four thousand Dinar and gave all of it to him and to one else. She said, “He had told me when there were only two of us (She was beloved to him), “Keep this trust well protected with you and do allow anyone to know it before I will die. When I will die whichever of my sons will come to and ask you to deliver this trust to him give it to him and know that I have passed away. The sign that my master had informed me of has exactly come.” He took charge of the package and money from her and commanded everyone to keep it secret until the coming of the news. He left the house and thereafter did not come to rest at night as before. After a few days only the news of the passing away of abu Ibrahim reach the city. We calculated the time and found out that it was exactly the time abu al-Hassan had done those things; his delaying to come for rest at night and taking charge of the trust with (’Umm Ahamd).”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: حسن

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (4/241)

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

dataset Name: Thaqalayn public library, via ThaqalaynAPI snapshot
source Url: https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/1/4/90/6
license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
imported At: 2026-10-18T21:36:12.871Z
license Url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
rights Statement Url: 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: 17267f544421dc860a06f9ed194af263b89adba353b956d2df7c8114284b8c0d
source File Hash: 30bc491c96eb3860f3d3dfe97f46353a88858d7cb9e06d662ebdd04252ac5a3e
original Source Url: https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/4/90/6
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.