5-86 Muhammad ibn Ali Majiluyih - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Attar quoted Sahl ibn Zyad al-Adamy, on the authority of Yaqoob ibn Yazid, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Nawfaly who linked it up through a chain of narrators to Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq (MGB), on the authority of his forefathers (MGB),

“The Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) wrote his staff and ordered them to do the following five things: Sharpen your pencils a little when you want to write; write the lines close to each other; skip additional and unrelated issues; and write briefly. I admonish you against wasting the possessions of the Muslims.”