16. My father and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Walid both said: Sa`d ibn `Abd Allah said: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn `Isa said, on the authority of `Ali ibn `Abd Allah, on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Barqi that

Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq was asked to interpret the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High: And they swear by Allah: If we had been able, we would certainly have gone forth with you; they cause their own souls t perish, and Allah knows that they are most surely liars. He said: “Allah, the Mighty and High, has refuted their statement: If we had been able, we would certainly have gone forth with you; stating that they did indeed have the means of going forth.”