Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · About the Darkness of the Heart of the Hypocrite Even Though He Has a Tongue and the Light of the Heart of the Believer Even Though His Tongue May Fall Short · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 185, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ فَضَّالٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ عُقْبَةَ عَنْ عَمْرٍو عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ قَالَ لَنَا ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ تَجِدُ الرَّجُلَ لا يُخْطِئُ بِلامٍ وَلا وَاوٍ خَطِيباً مِصْقَعاً وَلَقَلْبُهُ أَشَدُّ ظُلْمَةً مِنَ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ وَتَجِدُ الرَّجُلَ لا يَسْتَطِيعُ يُعَبِّرُ عَمَّا فِي قَلْبِهِ بِلِسَانِهِ وَقَلْبُهُ يَزْهَرُ كَمَا يَزْهَرُ الْمِصْبَاحُ.

Published English translation

1. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Faddal from Ali ibn ‘Uqbah from ‘Amr from abu ‘Abd Allah who has said the following: “One day the Imam said to us, ‘You may find a man who does not make any mistakes of the size of letter ‘L’ or ‘W’ and he is an exuberant speaker while his heart is darker than the darkest night. You may also find a man who is not able to express what is in his heart with his tongue while his heart shines like a lantern.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (1/257)

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/2/1/185/1
license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
edition: Al-Kafi, volume 2, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
imported At: 2026-10-18T21:36:12.871Z
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
content Hash: cd1614fc27403ff21c7e1e4305849bfa2574ef1116b8d6053d9ae2a4985d3ef1
source File Hash: d538c07d5f74e5fbc26b065897c076eab247d4d7c09e633fbb6184de9f37ee78
original Source Url: https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/1/185/1
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