Al-Kafi · Hadith 2

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · The Clay from which the Believers and Unbelievers are made (additional) · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 3, Hadith 2

Original Arabic text

2ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ سَالِمٍ عَنْ حَبِيبٍ السِّجِسْتَانِيِّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) يَقُولُ إِنَّ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمَّا أَخْرَجَ ذُرِّيَّةَ آدَمَ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) مِنْ ظَهْرِهِ لِيَأْخُذَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمِيثَاقَ بِالرُّبُوبِيَّةِ لَهُ وَبِالنُّبُوَّةِ لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ فَكَانَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَخَذَ لَهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمِيثَاقَ بِنُبُوَّتِهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وآلِه) ثُمَّ قَالَ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لآِدَمَ انْظُرْ مَا ذَا تَرَى قَالَ فَنَظَرَ آدَمُ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) إِلَى ذُرِّيَّتِهِ وَهُمْ ذَرٌّ قَدْ مَلَئُوا السَّمَاءَ قَالَ آدَمُ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) يَا رَبِّ مَا أَكْثَرَ ذُرِّيَّتِي وَلأمْرٍ مَا خَلَقْتَهُمْ فَمَا تُرِيدُ مِنْهُمْ بِأَخْذِكَ الْمِيثَاقَ عَلَيْهِمْ قَالَ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَعْبُدُونَنِي لا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئاً وَيُؤْمِنُونَ بِرُسُلِي وَيَتَّبِعُونَهُمْ قَالَ آدَمُ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) يَا رَبِّ فَمَا لِي أَرَى بَعْضَ الذَّرِّ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ بَعْضٍ وَبَعْضَهُمْ لَهُ نُورٌ كَثِيرٌ وَبَعْضَهُمْ لَهُ نُورٌ قَلِيلٌ وَبَعْضَهُمْ لَيْسَ لَهُ نُورٌ فَقَالَ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ كَذَلِكَ خَلَقْتُهُمْ لأبْلُوَهُمْ فِي كُلِّ حَالاتِهِمْ قَالَ آدَمُ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) يَا رَبِّ فَتَأْذَنُ لِي فِي الْكَلامِ فَأَتَكَلَّمَ قَالَ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ تَكَلَّمْ فَإِنَّ رُوحَكَ مِنْ رُوحِي وَطَبِيعَتَكَ [ مِنْ ] خِلافِ كَيْنُونَتِي قَالَ آدَمُ يَا رَبِّ فَلَوْ كُنْتَ خَلَقْتَهُمْ عَلَى مِثَالٍ وَاحِدٍ وَقَدْرٍ وَاحِدٍ وَطَبِيعَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَجِبِلَّةٍ وَاحِدَةً وَأَلْوَانٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَأَعْمَارٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَأَرْزَاقٍ سَوَاءٍ لَمْ يَبْغِ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ بَيْنَهُمْ تَحَاسُدٌ وَلا تَبَاغُضٌ وَلا اخْتِلافٌ فِي شَيْ‏ءٍ مِنَ الأشْيَاءِ قَالَ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَا آدَمُ بِرُوحِي نَطَقْتَ وَبِضَعْفِ طَبِيعَتِكَ تَكَلَّفْتَ مَا لا عِلْمَ لَكَ بِهِ وَأَنَا الْخَالِقُ الْعَالِمُ بِعِلْمِي خَالَفْتُ بَيْنَ خَلْقِهِمْ وَبِمَشِيئَتِي يَمْضِي فِيهِمْ أَمْرِي وَإِلَى تَدْبِيرِي وَتَقْدِيرِي صَائِرُونَ لا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِي إِنَّمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإنْسَ لِيَعْبُدُونِ وَخَلَقْتُ الْجَنَّةَ لِمَنْ أَطَاعَنِي وَعَبَدَنِي مِنْهُمْ وَاتَّبَعَ رُسُلِي وَلا أُبَالِي وَخَلَقْتُ النَّارَ لِمَنْ كَفَرَ بِي وَعَصَانِي وَلَمْ يَتَّبِعْ رُسُلِي وَلا أُبَالِي وَخَلَقْتُكَ وَخَلَقْتُ ذُرِّيَّتَكَ مِنْ غَيْرِ فَاقَةٍ بِي إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَيْهِمْ وَإِنَّمَا خَلَقْتُكَ وَخَلَقْتُهُمْ لأبْلُوَكَ وَأَبْلُوَهُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً فِي دَارِ الدُّنْيَا فِي حَيَاتِكُمْ وَقَبْلَ مَمَاتِكُمْ فَلِذَلِكَ خَلَقْتُ الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةَ وَالْحَيَاةَ وَالْمَوْتَ وَالطَّاعَةَ وَالْمَعْصِيَةَ وَالْجَنَّةَ وَالنَّارَ وَكَذَلِكَ أَرَدْتُ فِي تَقْدِيرِي وَتَدْبِيرِي وَبِعِلْمِيَ النَّافِذِ فِيهِمْ خَالَفْتُ بَيْنَ صُوَرِهِمْ وَأَجْسَامِهِمْ وَأَلْوَانِهِمْ وَأَعْمَارِهِمْ وَأَرْزَاقِهِمْ وَطَاعَتِهِمْ وَمَعْصِيَتِهِمْ فَجَعَلْتُ مِنْهُمُ الشَّقِيَّ وَالسَّعِيدَ وَالْبَصِيرَ وَالأعْمَى وَالْقَصِيرَ وَالطَّوِيلَ وَالْجَمِيلَ وَالدَّمِيمَ وَالْعَالِمَ وَالْجَاهِلَ وَالْغَنِيَّ وَالْفَقِيرَ وَالْمُطِيعَ وَالْعَاصِيَ وَالصَّحِيحَ وَالسَّقِيمَ وَمَنْ بِهِ الزَّمَانَةُ وَمَنْ لا عَاهَةَ بِهِ فَيَنْظُرُ الصَّحِيحُ إِلَى الَّذِي بِهِ الْعَاهَةُ فَيَحْمَدُنِي عَلَى عَافِيَتِهِ وَيَنْظُرُ الَّذِي بِهِ الْعَاهَةُ إِلَى الصَّحِيحِ فَيَدْعُونِي وَيَسْأَلُنِي أَنْ أُعَافِيَهُ وَيَصْبِرُ عَلَى بَلائِي فَأُثِيبُهُ جَزِيلَ عَطَائِي وَيَنْظُرُ الْغَنِيُّ إِلَى الْفَقِيرِ فَيَحْمَدُنِي وَيَشْكُرُنِي وَيَنْظُرُ الْفَقِيرُ إِلَى الْغَنِيِّ فَيَدْعُونِي وَيَسْأَلُنِي وَيَنْظُرُ الْمُؤْمِنُ إِلَى الْكَافِرِ فَيَحْمَدُنِي عَلَى مَا هَدَيْتُهُ فَلِذَلِكَ خَلَقْتُهُمْ لأبْلُوَهُمْ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَفِيمَا أُعَافِيهِمْ وَفِيمَا أَبْتَلِيهِمْ وَفِيمَا أُعْطِيهِمْ وَفِيمَا أَمْنَعُهُمْ وَأَنَا الله الْمَلِكُ الْقَادِرُ وَلِي أَنْ أَمْضِيَ جَمِيعَ مَا قَدَّرْتُ عَلَى مَا دَبَّرْتُ وَلِي أَنْ أُغَيِّرَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا شِئْتُ إِلَى مَا شِئْتُ وَأُقَدِّمَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا أَخَّرْتُ وَأُؤَخِّرَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَأَنَا الله الْفَعَّالُ لِمَا أُرِيدُ لا أُسْأَلُ عَمَّا أَفْعَلُ وَأَنَا أَسْأَلُ خَلْقِي عَمَّا هُمْ فَاعِلُونَ.

Published English translation

2. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad and Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from al-Hassan ibn Mahbub from Hisham ibn Salim from Habib al-Sajistani who has said the following: “I heard abu Ja’far (a.s.) saying, ‘There was a time when Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, took the descendents of Adam from his back to establish a covenant with them to testify that He is their Lord and to believe in the prophethood of all the prophets. The first among the prophets whose prophethood Allah wanted them to accept through a covenant was Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah (a.s.). Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, then said to Adam, “Look (to find) what you can see.” ‘The Imam then said, “Adam then looked and saw his descendents appearing as small particles that filled the sky. Adam then said, ‘Lord, how huge in number my descendents are! For what purpose have You created them and for what reason did You make them to establish a covenant with You?’” Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, replied, “So that they worship Me and do not consider anything else as My equal and so that they believe in My messengers and follow them (for guidance).” Adam then asked, “Lord, why is it that I see certain ones of the particles are greater, others have a great deal of lights, yet others among them have very little light and still others among them have no lights at all?” Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, replied, “Thus, I have created them to place them to test in every condition that they will live.” Adam then asked, “My Lord, will You grant me permission to speak so I may express myself?” Allah, the Majestic the Glorious said, “Speak up; your spirit is from My spirit but your nature is different from My being.” Adam then asked, “Lord, had You created them all just like each other, by the same measure, the same nature, of likewise design, of the same color, of equal life span, of equal amount of means of living they would not act against each other. No jealousy, animosity and differences would exist among them over anything.” Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, said, “O Adam, through My spirit you just spoke and due to the weakness of your nature you made an effort to give an opinion about that of which you have no knowledge. I Am the Creator of the world. I knowingly have created each one different from the others and through My Own way I will make My commands to take effect and they will continue existing through My plans and measures. There will be no changes in My creation. I have created the Jinn and human beings only to worship Me. I have created paradise for those who obey and worship Me and follow My messengers. I have no regrets in what 1 have done. I have created the fire for those who disbelieve, disobey Me and do not follow My messengers and I have no regrets in it. I have created you and your descendents not because I ever need you or your descendents in anyway or form. I have created you and created them to test you and test them to see which ones among you do good deeds in the worldly life before your deaths. For this reason I have created the world and the life thereafter, life, death, obedience, disobedience, paradise and the fire. This is how I willed in My measure and plan. Through My all-pervasive knowledge in them I have placed differences in their forms, bodies, colors, lifespan, means of living, obedience and disobedience. I, thus, have made certain ones of them to be unfortunate or very fortunate. Certain ones among them will have eyesight or be blind, others among them will be of short size or tall ones, beautiful or otherwise, knowledgeable or ignorant, wealthy or poor, obedient or disobedient, of good health or suffering from illness, of defective bodies or free of bodily defects. In this way those of perfect bodies will look at the defective ones and thank Me for the perfect body that 1 have given them and those with defective bodies will look at the perfect ones and will pray to Me and ask Me to grant them good health and exercise patience when and in the way I test them. Thus, I will grant them good rewards. The wealthy ones after looking to the poor ones will thank Me and appreciate My favors. When the poor ones look to the wealthy ones they pray to Me and ask Me favors. It is as such so that the believers will look to the unbelievers and thank Me for the guidance that I have granted them. For such reasons I have created them. I test them in ease and in hardships and in good health that I grant them and in the matters with which I test them, in the matters of what I grant them and in the matters that 1 refuse them. I am Allah, the powerful King. It is all up to Me to allow all of My measures and plans to take form or change them as I wish to the time that I wish. I may change the sequel of the timing of my measures and plans and allow, that which comes first to come last and vice versa. I am Allah, and I execute whatever I will. I am not questioned for whatever I do but 1 question My creatures about their deeds.’””

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 (7/24)

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.

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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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