3ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِنَانٍ عَنِ ابْنِ مُسْكَانَ عَنْ سَدِيرٍ قَالَ قَالَ لِي أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى مَنَازِلَ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى وَاحِدَةٍ وَمِنْهُمْ عَلَى اثْنَتَيْنِ وَمِنْهُمْ عَلَى ثَلاثٍ وَمِنْهُمْ عَلَى أَرْبَعٍ وَمِنْهُمْ عَلَى خَمْسٍ وَمِنْهُمْ عَلَى سِتٍّ وَمِنْهُمْ عَلَى سَبْعٍ فَلَوْ ذَهَبْتَ تَحْمِلُ عَلَى صَاحِبِ الْوَاحِدَةِ ثِنْتَيْنِ لَمْ يَقْوَ وَعَلَى صَاحِبِ الثِّنْتَيْنِ ثَلاثاً لَمْ يَقْوَ وَعَلَى صَاحِبِ الثَّلاثِ أَرْبَعاً لَمْ يَقْوَ وَعَلَى صَاحِبِ الأرْبَعِ خَمْساً لَمْ يَقْوَ وَعَلَى صَاحِبِ الْخَمْسِ سِتّاً لَمْ يَقْوَ وَعَلَى صَاحِبِ السِّتِّ سَبْعاً لَمْ يَقْوَ وَعَلَى هَذِهِ الدَّرَجَاتُ.
3. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Muhammad ibn Sinan from ibn Muskan from Sadir who has said the following: “Abu Ja’far said to me, ’Believers are of various positions in connection with belief. There are those who have one degree of belief, others have two degrees, still others may have three or four, five, six or seven degrees of belief. If you expect two degrees of belief from one who has only one degree of belief he is not able to bear it, or expect three degrees of belief from the one who has only two degrees of it he also is not able to bear it. The one who may have three cannot bear four degrees of belief, the one who has four degrees of belief is not able to bear five degrees of belief. One who has only five degrees of belief is not able to bear six degrees of belief and one who has six degrees of belief is not able to bear seven degrees of belief. This is how the degrees of belief are.’”