My father narrated to us. He said: `Abdullah b. Ja`far al-Himyari narrated to us from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. `Isa from his father from Muhammad b. Abi `Umayr from Muhammad b. Humran from Abi `Ubayda al-Hatha’. He said: Abu Ja`far said: O Ziyad! Beware of argumentation, for it creates doubt, nullifies deeds, and degrades its doer. Perhaps a man may say something that he is not forgiven for. O Ziyad! There was once a community who left the required knowledge and sought unrequired knowledge, until they spoke of Allah [and His essence] and became perplexed by it; [so much so] that if a man were to call in front of them, they would reply to the back, and to the front if called from the back.

Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Ahmad b. al-Walid narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar narrated to us. He said: Ahmad b. Abi `Abdillah al-Barqi narrated to me. He said: My father narrated to me from Safwan b. Yahya from Abi’l Yasa` from Sulayman b. Khalid. He said: Abu `Abdillah said: Beware of contemplating about [the essence of] Allah, for contemplation about Allah only increases in deviation. Surely, Allah cannot be comprehended by sights, and He cannot be described by measurement.

Muhammad b. Musa b. al-Mutawakkil narrated to us. He said: Abdullah b. Ja`far al-Himyari narrated to us. He said: Ahmad .b Muhammad b. `Isa narrated to us from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from `Anbasa al-`Abid from Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq . He said: Beware of arguing in religion, for it distracts the heart from the remembrance of Allah, it bequeaths hypocrisy, it forms grudges, and it makes lying easy.

By this isnad from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from al-`Ala' b. Ruzayn from Muhammad b. Muslim from Abi Ja`far al-Baqir . He said: When Allah created the intellect, He interrogated it. Then, He said to it: Come forth. So, it came forth. Then, He said to it: Go back. So, it went back. Then, He said to it: By My glory and My majesty! I have not created a thing that is more beloved to Me than you. I do not perfect you except in those whom I love. Surely, by you I command, by you I prohibit, by you I punish, and by you I reward.

`Ali b. Ahmad b. Musa narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. Ya`qub narrated to me. He said: `Ali b. Muhammad b. `Abdullah narrated to me from Ibrahim b. Ishaq al-Ahmar from Muhammad b. Sulayman al-Daylami from his father. He said: I spoke to Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq , describing the worship, religion, virtue, and so on of a person. He said: So, he said: How is his intellect? So, I said: I do not know. So, he said: Surely, good deeds are at the proportion of one’s intellect. Surely, a man from the Children of Israel would worship Allah on a green, verdant island with any trees and pure water. Then, an angel from among the angels passed by him and said: “O Lord! Show me the rewards of the deeds of this servant of Yours.” So, Allah showed that to him, and the angel considered it minor. So, Allah revealed to him, telling him to accompany him. So, the angel came to him in the form of a human. So, he said to him: “Who are you?” He said: “I am a worshiping man. We were informed about your position and your worship in this place, so I came to worship Allah with you.” He was with him on that day, so at its end, the angel said to him: “This place of yours is a retreat.” He said: “If only our Lord had a beast. If our Lord had a donkey, we would have herded it in this place, for this grass is so luscious that it could get lost in it.” So, the angel said to him: “Does your Lord not have a donkey?” So, he said: “If He had a donkey, this grass would not go to waste.” So, Allah revealed to the angel: “Surely, I will only reward him in proportion to his intellect.” Al-Sadiq said: The Messenger of Allah (s) never spoke to the worshipers at the level of his own intellect. He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: We the prophets were commanded to speak to the people at the level of their intellect.

Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Ahmad b. al-Walid narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar narrated to us from al-`Abbas b. Ma`ruf from Bakr b. Muhammad al-Azdi from Abi Basir. He said: Abu `Abdillah al-Sadiq said: The foundations of disbelief are three: greed, arrogance, and envy. As for greed, when Adam was prohibited from the tree, greed caused him to eat from it. As for arrogance, when Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam, he was arrogant. As for envy, one of Adam's sons killed the other due to envy.

My father narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim narrated to us from his father Ibrahim b. Hashim from la-Husayn . Yazid al-Nawfali from Isma`il b. Muslim al-Sukuni from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father from his forefathers from the Messenger of Allah (s). He said: The pillars of disbelief are four: (1) desire, (2) fear, (3) discontent, and (4) anger.

Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Yahya al-`Attar narrated to us. He said: My father narrated to us from Ya`qub b. Yazid from Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qindi from Abi Waki` from Abi Ishaq al-Sabi`i from al-Harith al-A`war from `Ali . He said: There is no good in lying nor in mockery, nor in promising your child something then failing to fulfill it. Lying leads to immorality, and immorality leads to the Fire. One of you may not stop lying until it is said: “he lies, and he has committed immorality.” One of you may not stop lying until there is not an iota of honesty in his heart, so he will be called a liar with Allah.

Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Ahmad b. al-Walid narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar narated to us from Ahmad b. Abi `Abdillah al-Barqi from his father from another person from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad . He said: Do not anger others, or else you will be angered; and do not dig a hole for your brother, or else you will fall in it. Surely, you will reap what you sow.

By this isnad from Ahmad b. Abi Abdillah. He said: Al-Husayn b. Yazid narrated to us from Isma`il b. Muslim from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father from his forefathers . He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: Sitting in the mosque waiting for the prayer is worship for one who does not nullify. It was said: O Messenger of Allah! What is the nullifier? He said: Backbiting.

My father narrated to us. He said: Sa`d b. `Abdullah narrated to us from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. `Isa from al-Hasan b. `Ali b. Faddal from Tha`laba b. Maymun from Abi Jamila al-Mufaddal b. Salih from Aban b. Taghlub from Abi `Abdillah . He said: Whoever swears by Allah whilst lying, Allah says: “Did you not find anyone else to lie upon besides Myself?!”

By this isnad from Ahmad b. Muhammad from `Uthman b. `Isa from Wahb from Shihab b. `Abd Rabbih from Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq . He said: Whoever says "Allah knows" regarding something that he does not know, the Throne shakes out of the greatness of Allah.

Ja`far b. Muhammad b. Masruq narrated to us. He said: Al-Husayn b. Muhammad b. `Amer narrated to us from Mu`alla b. Muhammad al-Basri from `Ali b. Asbat from Ja`far b. Sama`a from another person from Zurara b. A`yan. He said: I asked Aba Ja`far al-Baqir : What is the right that Allah has over a worshiper? He said: To say only that which they know, and to stop at that which they do not know.

My father narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim narrated to us from his father from Ibn Abi `Umayr from Yunus b. Ya`qub from Abi Ya`qub Ishaq b. `Abdullah from Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq . He said: Allah reproaches His servants with two verses from His Book: to not speak until they know, and to not respond to that which they do not know. Allah says, “Was a covenant not taken from them in the Book that they would not say anything about Allah except the truth?” (7:169), and He says, “In fact, they rejected the Book without comprehending it and before the fulfilment of its warnings.” (10:39)

Muhammad b. Musa b. al-Mutawakkil narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim b. Hashim narrated to us from Muhammad b. `Isa b. `Ubayd from Yunus b. `Abd al-Rahman from Dawud b. Farqad from Ibn Shabrama. He said: I never mentioned a hadith that I heard from Ja`far b. Muhammad except that my heart would break for him. I heard him say: My father narrated to me from my grandfather from the Messenger of Allah (s). Ibn Shabrama said: By Allah, he would not lie upon his father, and his father would not lie upon his grandfather, and his grandfather would not lie upon the Messenger of Allah. He [(s)] said: Whoever acts by analogies (qiyas) is destroyed and has destroyed others. Whoever gave rulings to the people without knowing the abrogating from the abrogated nor the decisive from the allegorical is destroyed and has destroyed others.

Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Ahmad b. al-Walid narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar narrated to us from Ibrahim b. Hashim from Isma`il b. Marrar from Yunus b. `Abd al-Rahman from another person from Abi `Abdillah al-Sadiq . He said: `Isa b. Maryam stood to deliver a sermon to the Children of Israel. So, he said: O Children of Israel! Do not impart wisdom to the ignorant, for you will have oppressed it; and do not prevent it from its people, for you will have oppressed them.

My father narrated to us. He said: Sa`d b. `Abdullah narrated to us from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid from his father from Muhammad b. Sinan from Talha b. Zayd. He said: I heard Aba `Abdillah al-Sadiq say: One who acts without insight is like one who travels without a path. If he increases his speed in his travel, he only gets further away from the path.

Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Yahya al-`Attar narrated to us. He said: My father narrated to us from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. `Isa from Muhammad b. Sinan from Ibn Muskan from al-Hasan b. Ziyad al-Sayqal. He said: I heard Aba `Abdillah al-Sadiq say: Allah does not accept action without recognition (ma`rifa), nor recognition without action. Whoever recognizes, his recognition will lead him to action. Whoever has no actions has no recognition. Surely, part of faith is from its other part.