Al-Kafi · Hadith 20

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · The Sins · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 111, Hadith 20

Original Arabic text

20ـ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ الأشْعَرِيُّ عَنْ عِيسَى بْنِ أَيُّوبَ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ مَهْزِيَارَ عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ بُكَيْرٍ عَنْ زُرَارَةَ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ قَالَ مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ إِلا وَفِي قَلْبِهِ نُكْتَةٌ بَيْضَاءُ فَإِذَا أَذْنَبَ ذَنْباً خَرَجَ فِي النُّكْتَةِ نُكْتَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ فَإِنْ تَابَ ذَهَبَ ذَلِكَ السَّوَادُ وَإِنْ تَمَادَى فِي الذُّنُوبِ زَادَ ذَلِكَ السَّوَادُ حَتَّى يُغَطِّيَ الْبَيَاضَ فَإِذَا غَطَّى الْبَيَاضَ لَمْ يَرْجِعْ صَاحِبُهُ إِلَى خَيْرٍ أَبَداً وَهُوَ قَوْلُ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ كَلا بَلْ رانَ عَلى‏ قُلُوبِهِمْ ما كانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ.

Published English translation

20. Abu Ali al-Ash’ari has narrated from ‘Isa ibn Ayyub from Ali ibn Mahziyar from al-Qasim ibn ‘Urwah from ibn Bukayr from Zurara from abu Ja’far who has said the following: “In the heart of every servant (of Allah) there is a white dot. When he commits a sin a black dot appears in the white one. If he repents the black dot goes away, but if he continues committing sins the black dot enlarges until it covers the white dot and when the white dot is covered the person thereafter does not return to good things as Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said, ‘In fact, their hearts are stained by their deeds.’” ( 83 : 14 )

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 (9/417)

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: صحيح

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 106

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

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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