Al-Kafi · Hadith 5

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · Al-Taqiyyah, Guarding and Cautiousness · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 97, Hadith 5

Original Arabic text

5ـ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ الأشْعَرِيُّ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ الْكُوفِيِّ عَنِ الْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَامِرٍ عَنْ جَابِرٍ الْمَكْفُوفِ عَنْ عَبْدِ الله بْنِ أَبِي يَعْفُورٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ اتَّقُوا عَلَى دِينِكُمْ فَاحْجُبُوهُ بِالتَّقِيَّةِ فَإِنَّهُ لا إِيمَانَ لِمَنْ لا تَقِيَّةَ لَهُ إِنَّمَا أَنْتُمْ فِي النَّاسِ كَالنَّحْلِ فِي الطَّيْرِ لَوْ أَنَّ الطَّيْرَ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي أَجْوَافِ النَّحْلِ مَا بَقِيَ مِنْهَا شَيْ‏ءٌ إِلا أَكَلَتْهُ وَلَوْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ عَلِمُوا مَا فِي أَجْوَافِكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُحِبُّونَّا أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ لأكَلُوكُمْ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَلَنَحَلُوكُمْ فِي السِّرِّ وَالْعَلانِيَةِ رَحِمَ الله عَبْداً مِنْكُمْ كَانَ عَلَى وَلايَتِنَا.

Published English translation

5. Abu Ali al-Ash’ari has narrated from al-Hassan ibn Ali al-Kufi from al-‘ Abbas ibn ‘Amir from Jabir al-Makfuf from ‘Abd Allah ibn abu Ya’fur from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) who has said the following: “Protect your religion and veil it with al-Taqiyyah (protective measures); one who does not observe al-Taqiyyah has no belief. You in the people are like honeybees, in birds. Had birds known what is inside honeybees no honeybee would have been left and it all would have been consumed. Had people known that you love Ahl al-Bayt they might have destroyed you with their tongues, abusing you in private and in public. May Allah bless those of you who are in our Walayah (Divine Guardianship).’”

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 (9/169)

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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