Al-Kafi · Hadith 18

The Book of Social Manners · Response to Sneezing · Volume 2, book 4, chapter 15, Hadith 18

Original Arabic text

18ـ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ الأشْعَرِيُّ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي نَجْرَانَ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ عَطَسَ رَجُلٌ نَصْرَانِيٌّ عِنْدَ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) فَقَالَ لَهُ الْقَوْمُ هَدَاكَ الله فَقَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) فَقُولُوا يَرْحَمُكَ الله فَقَالُوا لَهُ إِنَّهُ نَصْرَانِيٌّ فَقَالَ لا يَهْدِيهِ الله حَتَّى يَرْحَمَهُ.

Published English translation

18. Abu Ali al-Ash’ari has narrated from certain individuals of his people from ibn abu Najran from certain individuals of our people from abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.) who has said the following: “Once a Christian man sneezed in the presence of Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) and the people said, ‘May Allah guide you.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) said, ‘Say, “May Allah grant you mercy.’” They said, ‘He is a Christian.’ The Imam said, ‘Allah will not guide him until He grants him mercy.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مرسل

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (12/557)

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 2, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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