310 Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. [N.S., XIX, 1923.] 
He said : Sit quietly. Then he rose and went towards 
the curtain in his house, lifted it, and passed into the room. 
He remained there a w hile, and a cried : O Fayd, come 
in ! IT entered, and found him in a mvusque engaged in prayer. 
Then he turned from the gibla, and L ins before him. Entered 
Abii’l-Hasan (i.e. Misa b. Ja‘far), who was at that time a little 
boy, holding a whip in his hand. (Ja‘far) made him sit in his 
lap and asked : With my father mayest thou be ransomed and 
with my mother! Why is this whip in thy hand ?—(Misa) 
replied: I passed near ‘Ali, my brother, who was holding it 
and hitting animals: so I pulled it away from his hand 
Aba ‘Abdu’l-lah said: © Fayd, verily the books of 
Abraham and Moses were handed over to the Apostle of God, 
and he entrusted them to Hasan and Husayn ; the latter entrust- 
ed them to ‘Ali b. al- Husayn, who did the same to Muhammad 
b. ‘Ali, and my father entrusted them to me, and they were 
with me. But I entrust them to this my son, regardless of his 
young age, and they are with him 
understood what he meant by this, but asked: Explain 
this nes me furt 
(Ja‘far Sadiq ‘then tells him of several instances of Misa’s 
filial affection for him, and his own appreciation Then he 
orders Fayd b. Zubyan not to tell anybody of what he has 
heard, except his relatives and friends. ° 
and all ee par obeyed the Imam’s will. 
4 (p. 2 Ahmad b. Mansiir narrated what he heard 
‘ios Acai b. aL ‘aa al-Khuza‘i,! and he from Muhammad b. 
Ziyad, and he in turn from ‘Ali b. ‘Atiyya, the chamberlain,” 
who said: ‘Abdu’r-Rahman b. Siyaba wrote to Abi ‘Abdi'l- 
lah (Ja* far Sadig) : 1 have warned thee that Isma‘il is going 
to ruin thee. He is affectionate in appearance, but stirs trust- 
worthy people up to the point of (open) revolt. 
Abii ‘Abdi’l-lah wrote to him in reply: True is the word 
of God : no burdened soul shail bear the burden of another.’ 
By God, I did not know about this, never ordered this, and 
never will agree to this 
It is not clear, however, if the ‘ Isma‘il’ here really was the 
pon of Imam Ja‘far, and not a different person of the same 
ame. Unfortunately there are no ways to ascertain this 
definitely 
May, 1924, Calcutta. 
u a eis 


! See Najjashi, op. cit., p.65, who ascribes to him the authorship of 
* Here alabl! Gale. Cf. Tiisi’s List, No. 485. 
® Qur'an, XXXIX, 9. 
