Al-Kāfi 8, record 289 of the digital edition

Shaykh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī · A great deal of words without deeds

Shia · narrations

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Arabic text

الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْأَشْعَرِيُّ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمِ بْنِ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعِيدِ بْنِ غَزْوَانَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ بُنَانٍ عَنْ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عليه السلام) قَالَ قَالَ أَبِي يَوْماً وَ عِنْدَهُ أَصْحَابُهُ مَنْ مِنْكُمْ تَطِيبُ نَفْسُهُ أَنْ يَأْخُذَ جَمْرَةً فِي كَفِّهِ فَيُمْسِكَهَا حَتَّى تَطْفَأَ قَالَ فَكَاعَ النَّاسُ كُلُّهُمْ وَ نَكَلُوا فَقُمْتُ وَ قُلْتُ يَا أَبَةِ أَ تَأْمُرُ أَنْ أَفْعَلَ فَقَالَ لَيْسَ إِيَّاكَ عَنَيْتُ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مِنِّي وَ أَنَا مِنْكَ بَلْ إِيَّاهُمْ أَرَدْتُ قَالَ وَ كَرَّرَهَا ثَلَاثاً ثُمَّ قَالَ مَا أَكْثَرَ الْوَصْفَ وَ أَقَلَّ الْفِعْلَ إِنَّ أَهْلَ الْفِعْلِ قَلِيلٌ إِنَّ أَهْلَ الْفِعْلِ قَلِيلٌ أَلَا وَ إِنَّا لَنَعْرِفُ أَهْلَ الْفِعْلِ وَ الْوَصْفِ مَعاً وَ مَا كَانَ هَذَا مِنَّا تَعَامِياً عَلَيْكُمْ بَلْ لِنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَارَكُمْ وَ نَكْتُبَ آثَارَكُمْ فَقَالَ وَ اللَّهِ لَكَأَنَّمَا مَادَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضُ حَيَاءً مِمَّا قَالَ حَتَّى إِنِّي لَأَنْظُرُ إِلَى الرَّجُلِ مِنْهُمْ يَرْفَضُّ عَرَقاً مَا يَرْفَعُ عَيْنَيْهِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ فَلَمَّا رَأَى ذَلِكَ مِنْهُمْ قَالَ رَحِمَكُمُ اللَّهُ فَمَا أَرَدْتُ إِلَّا خَيْراً إِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ دَرَجَاتٌ فَدَرَجَةُ أَهْلِ الْفِعْلِ لَا يُدْرِكُهَا أَحَدٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقَوْلِ وَ دَرَجَةُ أَهْلِ الْقَوْلِ لَا يُدْرِكُهَا غَيْرُهُمْ قَالَ فَوَ اللَّهِ لَكَأَنَّمَا نُشِطُوا مِنْ عِقَالٍ.

Translation

289. Al-Husayn Bin Muhammad Al-Ashary, from Ali Bin Muhammad Bin Saeed, from Muhammad Bin Muslim Bin Abu Salma, from Muhammad Bin Saeed Bin Gazwaan, from Muhammad bin Bunaan, from Abu Maryam, who has narrated that Abu Ja’far (asws) said: "One day my father (Ali b. al-Hussein (a.s)) said in the presence of his companions: ‘Which one of you is good enough to hold a burning ember in his hand and extinguish it by squeezing it?’ All the people were silent and stressed out. So I stood up and said: ‘O father! Do you command me to do it?’ So he said: ‘It is not you I meant, but rather, you are from me and I am from you, but it is they that I have intended by it’. He (Abu Ja'far (a.s)) said: ‘And he repeated it thrice, then said: ‘How much is the description (talk) and how little the action. The people of action are few indeed. And we recognize the people of action and the description (talk) both, and this was only a pretense of blindness from us towards you. But, your news reaches us and we write down your impressions’. Then he said: ‘By Allah (azwj)! It is as if the earth has shaken them with the shame from what he had said to the extent that I looked at a man from among them sweating profusely and he was not raising his head from the ground’. So when he saw that (situation) among them, he said: ‘May Allah (azwj) have Mercy on you all, for I have not intended except the good. In the Paradise there are Levels, so the level of the people of action cannot be understood by anyone from the people of the talk. And the Level of the people of the talk cannot be understood by others’. He said: ‘By Allah (azwj), it was as if they had been released from the chains.'"

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.

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Chain of narration (isnād)

  1. 289. Al-Husayn Bin Muhammad Al-Ashary
  2. Ali Bin Muhammad Bin Saeed
  3. Muhammad Bin Muslim Bin Abu Salma
  4. Muhammad Bin Saeed Bin Gazwaan
  5. Muhammad bin Bunaan
  6. Abu Maryam, who has narrated
  7. Abu Ja’far (asws) said

Narrator names are reproduced from the edition. Biographical profiles (Rijal al-Najashi, Rijal al-Tusi, Muʿjam Rijal al-Hadith) are not yet ingested, so SacredTwo does not link a narrator to a profile it cannot show.

Published assessments

  • Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi

    مجهول

    Published in Arabic as the scholar wrote it. No reviewed English rendering exists yet.

    Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (16/160)

  • Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi

    لم يخرجه

    Published in Arabic as the scholar wrote it. No reviewed English rendering exists yet.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

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What is and is not verified on this page

  • Source text: reproduced verbatim from the named digital edition. It has not been collated against a printed copy.
  • Attribution and chain: recorded as the edition publishes them. SacredTwo does not reconstruct or complete a chain.
  • Authenticity: reported only where a named scholar's published grading exists. SacredTwo never assigns a grade. — Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi; Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi
  • Interpretation: explanations on SacredTwo are labelled as explanation, not as scholarly review, consensus or ruling.

Persian rendering (AI)

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AI explanation

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