I entered in to see Abi al-Hasan Ali b. Muhammad صلوات الله عليه one day and said: O my master, I am sometimes absent and at other times present, even when present I am not able to meet you at all times, so whose words do we accept? and whose orders do we follow? He said to me: that one is Abu Amr – the trustworthy and dependable, so whatever he says to you then he is saying it on my behalf, and whatever he entrusts you then he is entrusting it on my behalf. When Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام passed on I went to his son Abi Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari عليه السلام one day and said to him the same as I had said to his father, so he said to me: that one is Abu Amr – the trustworthy and dependable, trustee to the one who has gone by [the previous Imam] and trustee to me both in life and after death, so whatever he says to you then he is saying it on my behalf, and whatever he entrusts you then he is entrusting it on my behalf.