28-1 (The author of the book narrated) my father - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Sa’d ibn Abdullah quoted on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa and Ali ibn Isma’il ibn Isa, on the authority of Al-Abbas ibn Ma’ruf, on the authority of Ali ibn Mahzyar, on the authority of Muhammad ibn al-Haytham, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Al-Fadhl, “I asked Abil Hassan Al-Ridha (s), ‘Is it possible for the Earth to exist with no Divine Leader present on it?’ The Imam (s) replied, ‘No. In such a case the Earth will take in all its residents.’”