Chapter on narrating books and Hadith (The virtue of writing and its preservation)

“(Imam) abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said about the words of Allah in the holy Quran, “Our servants who listen to the words and only follow the best ones.” [39:18] “He is a man who learns Hadith and reports it as he has learned…

“I asked abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), ‘Can I add to or omit from a Hadith that I hear from you?’” He said, “It is alright, if you would preserve the meaning,’”

“I asked (Imam) abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), ‘I hear your statement and I want to narrate to others but it does not come through exactly.’” The Imam asked, “Do you do it purposely?” He said, “No, I do not do it purposely.” The…

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.), ‘Can I narrate a Hadith I hear from you as a Hadith of your father or narrate what I have heard from your father as your Hadith?’ The Imam said, ‘It is all the same. However, I would…

“I said to (Imam) abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), ‘People come to me and they listen to the Ahadith that I narrate to them from you. I become tired and weak.’” The Imam said, “Narrate to them a Hadith from the beginning and one…

“I said to (Imam) abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.), ‘One of our people gives me a book but he does not say whether I can narrate any thing from it or not. Can I narrate it from him?’” He (the narrator) said that he (a.s.)…

“When you would narrate Hadith you must say who its narrator is. If it would be true it will be for you and if it would be false it will be his responsibility.

“The heart relies on writing.”

“(Imam) abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said, ‘You must write down because you will not memorize until you write down.’”

“Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said, ‘You must preserve your books because you will soon need them.’”

“Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said, ‘You must write down (Hadith) and spread your knowledge among your brethren. If you will die your children will inherit your books. A time will come when people will face chaos and they will…

“Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said, ‘Beware of the branched-out lies.’ They asked the Imam, “What is branched-out lies?” The Imam replied, “It is when a person narrates a Hadith to you and you would ignore him and narrate it…

“Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said, ‘Speak our Hadith clearly because we are eloquent people.’”

Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) said, ‘My Hadith is the Hadith of my father. The Hadith of my father is the Hadith of my grandfather. The Hadith of my grandfather is the Hadith of al-Husayn. The Hadith of al-Husayn is the Hadith of…

“I said to abu Ja‘far al-Thani (a.s.), ‘May Allah take my soul in your service, our sheikhs have narrated from abu Ja‘far and abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), and at that time Taqiyah was severe. So they concealed their books and…