1923.] Imam Ismail. 309 
thee to inquire as to Isma‘il’s succession e we abo Sadiq) ?— 
He replied : al-Mufaddal b. ‘Umar had ies 
No. 3 (p. 226). Verily Fayd (b. Z se "1 was the first 
man to hear from Aba ‘Abdi’l-lah (ie. Ja‘far Sadiq) of his 
a of his son Misa to be Imam after himself. : 
ar b. Ahmad b. Ayyib narrates what he heard from 
aenad b. al- Hasa n at-Taymi and also from Abit Nujayh, 
and he in turn from al- Fayd b. al Mukhtar who sai 
Said I to Abi ‘ Abdi’l-lah: O thou, for whose ates may 
] be sacrificed ! What dost thon declare concerning the land 
than this, or more { ae ler eplied : ah will be no arm 
But his son Isma‘il said to him : O Father, why should he 
retain it ?—(Imam Ja‘far) replied: Son, is not this the way 
in which I act with my peasants ? Really the greater part of 
what I say I am constrained thus to say. But thou dost not 
act in this wa 
Isma‘il rose and walked away. I asked : what prompts 
Isma‘il not to follow thee although sion hast handed over 
to him every thing after thee, in the same way that they were 
transferred to thee after thy father ? 
(Ja‘far Sadiq) replied : O Fayd, really Isma‘il is not in the 
same position as I was with my father 
Sai But we have no doubt [p. 227] that (ail) men have 
accepted him as thy successor.—And I further said to him on 
this point.—But if what we fear should happen, ses God calls 
thee at last,4 to whom (wilt mete bequeath the Imamat) ? 
id he: Leave me alone !—But I kissed his es and 


Bee: s not clear if this name is merely a mistake, because a few 
lines above, and below Kashi speaks of Fayd b. al-Mu ukhtar. Concern- 
ing the latter, cf. Tiisi’s List, No. 564, and Najj si op. cit., p. 
u 
The laconism o sage makes it rather difficult to realise 
precisely what is nae yea to, and the text seems to be not quite 
reliable here. Perhaps instead of (Ladi lls it would be better to read 
(Aaa3 Ys = * and thou dost not realise this.’ 
+ Tread Kslal! instead of avlal! which obviously is a mistake. 
® Again a suspicious expression. — is cask ,J is nothing 
but an incorrect reproduction of the — itt yp which gives much 
better sense : ¢ if I would be made sure.’ 
