3. [3/200] al-Kafi: Muhammad b. Abdallah and Muhammad b. Yahya from Abdallah b. Ja`far al-Himyari who said: We gathered – myself and the Shaykh Abu Amr (rh) at Ahmad b. Ishaq’s place. Ahmad b. Ishaq gestured at me me to ask him [Abu Amr] about the successor [the Mahdi], so I said to him: O Abu Amr, I want to ask you about something, and I am not in doubt about what I want to ask you about. My belief and religion are that the earth is never without a proof except forty days before the Day of Resurrection. When that happens, the proof is lifted, and the door of repentance is closed, 'The day when a soul will not benefit from its faith unless it had believed before or had earned some good through its faith.' (6:158) Those are the worst of God's creation, and they are the ones upon whom the Resurrection will occur. But I wanted to increase my certainty, and indeed, Abraham (as) asked his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, to show him how He revives the dead. He said, '
Have you not believed?' He said, 'Yes, but so that my heart may be at ease.' (2:260)"
And Abu Ali Ahmad b. Ishaq has informed me from Abi al-Hasan [al-Naqi] (as) saying: I asked him [the Imam] and said: whom do I emulate or from whom do I take? whose words do I accept? So he [al-Naqi] said to him: ‘al-Amri is my trustee, so what he gives you on my behalf then his giving is truly on my behalf, and what he says to you on my behalf then his saying is truly on my behalf, so listen to him and obey him, for he is both trustworthy and reliable’. Abu Ali [Ahmad b. Ishaq] also informed me that he had asked Aba Muhammad [al-Askari] (as) about the same matter so he said to him: ‘al-Amri and his son are two trustees, so what they give you on my behalf then their giving is truly on my behalf, and what they say to you on my behalf then their saying is truly on my behalf, so listen to them and obey them, for they are both trustworthy and reliable’. These are the words of the two Imams said previously about you [O Abu Amr].
He said: so Abu Amr prostrated himself and cried, then said: Ask your need. I asked: Did you see the successor after Abu Muhammad (pas)? He replied: By God, yes, and his neck is like this - and he gestured with his hand. I asked him: One more question remains. He told me: Go ahead. I asked: What is his name? He said: It is forbidden for you to ask about that, and I do not say this from myself, for it is not up to me to permit or forbid, but this is from him (as). The authority's stance is that Abu Muhammad has passed without leaving a son, his inheritance was divided and taken by those who had no right to it, and here are his family wandering. No one dares to approach them or give them anything. If the name is mentioned, the search will begin, so fear God and refrain from that.
Al-Kulayni (rh) said: A sheikh from our companions - whose name has escaped me - told me that Abu Amr asked Ahmad bin Ishaq about this matter and received the same answer.