Al-Kafi · Hadith 5

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · Humbleness · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 59, Hadith 5

Original Arabic text

5ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ فَضَّالٍ عَنِ الْعَلاءِ بْنِ رَزِينٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) يَذْكُرُ أَنَّهُ أَتَى رَسُولَ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وآلِه) مَلَكٌ فَقَالَ إِنَّ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُخَيِّرُكَ أَنْ تَكُونَ عَبْداً رَسُولاً مُتَوَاضِعاً أَوْ مَلِكاً رَسُولاً قَالَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَى جَبْرَئِيلَ وَأَوْمَأَ بِيَدِهِ أَنْ تَوَاضَعْ فَقَالَ عَبْداً مُتَوَاضِعاً رَسُولاً فَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ مَعَ أَنَّهُ لا يَنْقُصُكَ مِمَّا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ شَيْئاً قَالَ وَمَعَهُ مَفَاتِيحُ خَزَائِنِ الأرْضِ.

Published English translation

5. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from ibn Faddal from al-‘Ala’ ibn Razin from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “I heard abu Ja’far (a.s.) saying, ‘Once an angel came to the Messenger of Allah and said, ‘‘Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, gives you the choice to be a servant and a humble messenger, or to be an angel and a messenger.” He looked to Jibril who made a gesture with his hand to be humble. He (the Messenger of Allah) said, “I want to be a humble servant and a messenger.” The messenger (the angel) said, “Despite this, there is no reduction in what is with your Lord.” The Imam said, “With him were the keys to the treasures of earth.’””

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: موثق كالصحيح

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (8/248)

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
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
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original Source Url: https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/1/59/5
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