RESEARCH · UNREVIEWED. Source publication is not a certification of authenticity.
hadith
ORIGINAL ARABIC SOURCE TEXT
12ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ شَاهَوَيْهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله الْجَلابِ قَالَ كَتَبَ إِلَيَّ أَبُو الْحَسَنِ فِي كِتَابٍ أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تَسْأَلَ عَنِ الْخَلَفِ بَعْدَ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ وَقَلِقْتَ لِذَلِكَ فَلا تَغْتَمَّ فَإِنَّ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لا يُضِلُّ قَوْماً بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَاهُمْ حَتَّى يُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ مَا يَتَّقُونَ وَصَاحِبُكَ بَعْدِي أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ ابْنِي وَعِنْدَهُ مَا تَحْتَاجُونَ إِلَيْهِ يُقَدِّمُ مَا يَشَاءُ الله وَيُؤَخِّرُ مَا يَشَاءُ الله ما نَنْسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنْسِها نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِنْها أَوْ مِثْلِها قَدْ كَتَبْتُ بِمَا فِيهِ بَيَانٌ وَقِنَاعٌ لِذِي عَقْلٍ يَقْظَانَ.
Arabic source transcription, not a back-translation. Text nodes are preserved without spelling or diacritic changes. Printed-edition comparison is pending.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
12. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Ishaq ibn Muhammad from Shahwayh ibn ‘Abdallah al-Jallab who has said the following. “Abu al-Hassan wrote to me in a letter as herein below. “You wanted to ask about the succeeding Imam after (the death) of abu Ja‘far and you were anxious about it. Do not feel sad; “God does not misguide a nation after having given them guidance until the means of piety are made known to them. . .” (9:115) Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most gracious, does not neglect the people whom He has granted guidance to go astray until He clarifies for them the means with which they can maintain piety. You master (Imam) after me will be, my son, abu Muhammad عليه السلام . With there is whatever you would need. Allah allows to precede whatever He wants and Allah allows to succeed whatever He wants. “For whatever sign We change or eliminate or cause to recede into oblivion, We bring forth a better sign, one that is identical.. .” (2:106) . I have written enough convincing facts for the people of reason with awareness.”
Source & scholarly assessments
Al-Kafi, vol. 1, book 4, chapter 75, report 12
Open original digital source ↗
Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi · مجهول أيض ا · Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/392)
Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi · لم يخرجه · Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī
Digital-source transcription only. The recorded assessment is attributed to the named scholar; it does not establish absolute historical certainty.
Arabic witness SHA-256: e950873ef385f9ff4b8461ddb336093adab6f36b0bafe4bfc8ed4cc3e3e870cc
Source: Thaqalayn (Stichting Thaqalayn), https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/1/4/75/12. Al-Kafi by al-Kulayni. English translation attributed by the digital catalogue to Muhammad Sarwar. CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. No endorsement implied.
Source: Thaqalayn (Stichting Thaqalayn), https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/1/4/75/12. Al-Kafi by al-Kulayni. English translation attributed by the digital catalogue to Muhammad Sarwar. CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. No endorsement implied.