Al-Kafi · Hadith 4

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · Condemnation of Worldly Matters and Abstaining Thereby · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 61, Hadith 4

Original Arabic text

4ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ وَعَلِيِّ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ دَاوُدَ الْمِنْقَرِيِّ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ هَاشِمِ بْنِ الْبَرِيدِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ أَنَّ رَجُلاً سَأَلَ عَلِيَّ بْنَ الْحُسَيْنِ (عَلَيهِما السَّلام) عَنِ الزُّهْدِ فَقَالَ عَشَرَةُ أَشْيَاءَ فَأَعْلَى دَرَجَةِ الزُّهْدِ أَدْنَى دَرَجَةِ الْوَرَعِ وَأَعْلَى دَرَجَةِ الْوَرَعِ أَدْنَى دَرَجَةِ الْيَقِينِ وَأَعْلَى دَرَجَةِ الْيَقِينِ أَدْنَى دَرَجَةِ الرِّضَا أَلا وَإِنَّ الزُّهْدَ فِي آيَةٍ مِنْ كِتَابِ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لِكَيْلا تَأْسَوْا عَلى‏ ما فاتَكُمْ وَلا تَفْرَحُوا بِما آتاكُمْ.

Published English translation

4. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Ali ibn Muhammad from al- Qasim ibn Muhammad from Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Minqari from Ali ibn Hashim ibn al-Burayd from his father has said the following: “A man asked Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) about renunciation of worldly matters. The Imam said, ‘It consists of ten issues. The highest degree of renunciation of worldly matters is the lowest stage of abstinence in worldly matters (sins). The highest stage of abstinence in worldly matters is the lowest degree of certainty. The highest stage of certainty is the lowest stage of consent. It is renunciation of worldly matters that is mentioned in the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, ‘. . . so that you would neither grieve over what you have lost nor become much happy about what Allah has granted to you. . . (57:23)

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (8/269)

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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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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