Chapter 40

Statements about al-Jafr al-Jami and the Book of Fatima (a.s.)

H 635, Ch. 40, h 1
A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Abdallah ibn al-
Hajjal from Ahmad ibn Umar al-Halabi from abu Basir who has said the following. "I went
to abu Abdallah (a.s.) and said, "May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, I like to
ask you a question. Is there anyone else in this house who may hear my words?" The Imams
(a.s.) then folded the curtain between his room and the other room next to it and looked into it.
Then the Imams (a.s.) said, "O abu Muhammad, ask whatever you wish." I said, "May Allah
take my soul in service for your cause, your followers say that the Messenger of Allah taught
Ali (a.s.) a thousand chapter of knowledge and from each chapter there opens a thousand
chapter. I then said, This, I swear by Allah, is knowledge." He would mark the ground with
his staff (a sign of thinking in normal people) for a while and said, "That is knowledge but it
is not that." The narrators has said that The Imam (a.s.) then said, "O abu Muhammad, with us
there is al-Jamia. What do they know what al-Jami is?" I then asked, "May Allah take my
soul in service for your cause, what is al-Jamia? The Imam (a.s.) said, it is a parchment
seventy yards by the yards of the Messenger of Allah long that contains his dictations that is
in graved in to with the right hand writing of Ali (a.s.). It contains all the lawful and unlawful
and all matters that people need, even the law to of compensation for A number of our people
has narrated from scratch caused to a person. He then stretched his hand to me and asked,
May I, O abu Muhammad? I then replied, "May Allah take my soul in service for your
cause, I am all at your disposal." He pinched me with his hand and said, "Even there is the
law of compensation for this." He seemed angry. The narrator has said, "I then said, "This, I
swear by Allah is knowledge." The Imams (a.s.) said, "It certainly is knowledge but not that
one."
The Imams (a.s.) remained silent for a while and then said, "With us there is al-Jafr (the
parchment). What do they know what al-Jafr is? I then asked, "What is al-Jafr (the parchment
or a container) ?" The Imams (a.s.) said, "It is a container made of skin that contains the
knowledge of the prophets and the executors of their wills and the knowledge of the scholars
in the past from the Israelites." The narrator has said that he then said, "This certainly, is the
knowledge." The Imam (a.s.) said, "It certainly is knowledge but not that knowledge."
The Imams (a.s.) remained silent for a while and then said, "With us there is the book
(Mushaf) of Fatima, (a.s.). What do they know what Mushaf of Fatima is? The Imam (a.s.)
said, "Mushaf of Fatima is three times bigger than your Quran. There is not even a single
letter therein from your Quran." The narrator has said, "I then said, "This, I swear by Allah, is
the knowledge." The Imam (a.s.) said, "This certainly is knowledge, but it is not that."
The Imam (a.s.) remained silent for a while and then said, "With us there is the knowledge of
whatever has been and the knowledge of whatever will come into being to the Day of
Judgment." The narrator has said that he then said, "May Allah take my soul in service for
your cause, this, I swear by Allah is, certainly, knowledge." The Imam (a.s.) said, "It certainly
is knowledge but not that." The narrator has said that he then asked, "May Allah take my soul
in service for your cause, What then is knowledge?" The Imam (a.s.) said, "Whatever takes
place during the night and during the day, one matter after the other matter and one thing after
the other thing to the Day of Judgment."
H 636, Ch. 40, h 2
A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Umar ibn Abd al-
Aziz from ibn Uthman who has said that he heard abu Abdallah (a.s.) say the following.
"The heretics will appear in the year one hundred twenty eight (745/746AD) because I have
found it in the Mushaf of Fatima (a.s.)." The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.),
"What is Mushaf of Fatime?" The Imams (a.s.) said, "When Allah took the Holy Prophet (s.a.)
from this world, it caused such a degree of grief to Fatima (a.s.) that only Allah, the Most
Holy, the Most High, knows its extent. Allah then sent an angel to her to offer solace and
speak to her. She complained about it to Amir al-Muminin Ali (a.s.) who asked her to inform
him whenever she would find the angel speak to her. She then informed him when the angel
came to speak. Amir al-Muminin Ali (a.s.) then would write down all that he would hear of
the conversations of the angel so much so that his notes took the shape of a whole book." The
Imam (a.s.) then said, "There was nothing in it of the knowledge of the lawful and unlawful
matters but it had the knowledge of things that had happened and things to happen in future." :
H 637, Ch. 40, h 3
A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam
from al-Husayn ibn abu Alawho has said that he heard abu Abdallah (a.s.) say the
following. "With me is the white Jafr." The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.)
"What is in it?" The Imams (a.s.) said, "In it there is the psalms of David, the Torah of Moses,
the Gospel of Jesus, the Books of Abraham, the laws that explain the lawful and unlawful
matters and Mushaf of Fatima (a.s.) in which, I do not think there is nay thing from the Holy
Quran. In it there is all that people need us to do for them and so that we would not need any
one else. In it there is information even about a lash, half of a lash and one forth of a lash and
about the amount of compensation for A number of our people has narrated from scratch
caused to someone.
"With me there is the red Jafr." The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.), "What is
in the red Jafr?" The Imams (a.s.) said, "In it there is the Armaments. It is because it only is
opened for bloodshed. The owner of the sword opens it to kill." The narrator has said that
Abdallah ibn abu Yafur asked the Imams (a.s.), "May Allah keep you well, do the
descendents of al-Hassan (a.s.) know this? The Imam (a.s.) said, "Yes, I swear by Allah, they
know it just as they know the night that it is night and the day that it is the day but jealousy
and worldly gains cause them to act in denial and rejection. Had they sought the truth with the
truth it would have been better for them."
H 638, Ch. 40, h 4
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn Isa from Yunus from the person that he
mentioned from Sulayman ibn Khalid from abu Abdallah (a.s.) who has said the following.
"The Jafr of which they speak certainly disappoints them because they (the Zaydis) do not
speak the truth while Jafr does contain the truth. Let them bring to light therefrom the
judgments of Ali (a.s.) and his rulles of inheritance if they are truthful. Ask them about (the
inheritance) of paternal and maternal aunts. Let them show the Mushaf of Fatima (a.s.). In it
certainly there is the will of Fatima (a.s.). With it there is the Armaments the Messenger of
Allah. Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, has said, "Bring me a Book, revealed before this
Quran, or any other proof based on knowledge to support your belief, if indeed you are
truthful" (46:4).
H 639, Ch. 40, h 5
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from ibn
Riab from abu Ubaydah who has said that the people from our group asked abu Abdallah
(a.s.) about Jafr and the Imam (a.s.) said the following. "It is the skin of a bull which is full of
knowledge." Then they asked the Imam (a.s.) about al-Jamia. The Imam (a.s.) replied, "It is a
parchment that is seventy yards long with a width of hide like that of the leg of a huge camel.
It contains all that people may need. There is no case for there is a rule in it. In it there is the
law to settle the compensation for a scratch caused to a person." The narrator has said that he
asked the Imams (a.s.), "What is Mushaf of Fatima?" The Imam (a.s.) waited for quite a
while. Then he said, "You ask about what you really mean and what you do not mean. Fatima
(a.s.) lived after the Messenger of Allah for seventy-five days. She was severely depressed
because of the death of her father. Jibril (a.s.) would come to provide her solace because of
the death of her father. Jibril would comfort her soul. Jibril would inform her about her father
and his place and of the future events and about what will happen to her children. At the same
time Ali (a.s.) would write all of them down and thus is Mushaf of Fatima (a.s.)."
H 640, Ch. 40, h 6
A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Salih ibn Said from
Ahmad ibn abu Bishr from Bakr ibn Karib al-Sayrafi who has said that he heard abu
Abdallah (a.s.) say the following. "With us there are such things that because of which we do
not become need to people instead people need us. With us there is a book that the Messenger
of Allah had dictated and Ali (a.s.) had written it down. It is a book. In it there are all laws of
lawful and unlawful matters. You come to us with A number of our people has narrated from
issue and we know when you follow the guidance and when you disregard it."
H 641, Ch. 40, h 7
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu Umayr from Umar ibn Udhayna
from Fudayl ibn Yasar, Burayd ibn Muwiya and Zurarah who have said that Abdallah ibn
Abd al-Malik said the following to abu Abdallah (a.s.), "The Zaydi sect and al-Mutazali
group circle around Muhammad ibn Abdallah. Does he have any authority?" The Imam (a.s.)
said, "I swear by Allah that with me there are two books in which there is the name of every
prophet and the name of every king that would rule on earth. No, I swear by Allah, the name
of Muhammad ibn Abdallah is not in the list as one of them."
H 642, Ch. 40, h 8
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Said
from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from Abd al-Samad ibn Bashir from Fudayl ibn Sukra who
has said that once I went to abu Abdallah (a.s.) and he said the following to me. "O Fudayl,
do you know what at did I look just awhile before?" The narrator has said that he said to the
Imams (a.s.), "No, I do not know." The Imam (a.s.) said, "I was looking at the book of Fatima
(a.s.). There is no king who would rule on earth with being listed therein by his name and the
name of his father but I did not find the name of any of the descendent of al-Hassan therein."
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