16
Third, it may be said:
The fabrications against these figures found among the Rāfida are among the gravest of matters, especially those concerning Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq, for no one has ever been lied about to the extent(1) that he has. They went so far as to attribute to him works entitled “al-Jafr,” “al-Bitāqa,” [and “al-Haft”](2), “Twitching of the Limbs,” [and “The Lunar Table”](3), “Ahkām al-Ru‘ūd(4) wa-al-Burūq,” “The Benefits of the Surahs of the Quran”(5), [and “Reciting the Quran in a Dream”](6).
(1) Manuscript (M) reads “just as.”
(2) “And al-Haft” is absent from manuscript (N).
(3) “And the Lunar Table” appears only in manuscript (ʿ).
(4) Manuscript (N) reads “promises.”
(5) “And the Benefits of the Surahs of the Quran” is absent from manuscripts (B) and (A).
(6) “And Reciting the Quran in a Dream” appears only in manuscript (ʿ). Several works concerning the secret esoteric sciences—which the Shia claim were possessed exclusively by their Imams—have been attributed to Ja'far al-Sādiq. Among the most famous is *al-Jafr*, which has sometimes been attributed to Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. See Brockelmann, vol. 1, p. 182, where he discusses a work attributed to Ali entitled *al-Jafr: A Prediction of Events until the End of the World*.
At other times, it has been attributed to Ja'far al-Sādiq. See Brockelmann, vol. 1, p. 260. On the same page, Brockelmann also lists among his works *The Twitching of the Limbs* and *The Benefits of the Surahs of the Quran*.
Ibn Khaldūn states in his *Muqaddima*, vol. 2, pp. 766–767 (Ali Abd al-Wāhid Wāfī ed., 1378/1958), that *al-Jafr* is among the books that disclose the events destined to befall dynasties through transmitted reports and the stars. He says that Hārūn ibn Sa'īd al-Ijlī transmitted this book from Ja'far al-Sādiq and that it contained knowledge of what would befall the Ahl al-Bayt generally and particular individuals among them. It was in Ja'far’s possession, written on the hide of a young bull; Hārūn therefore named it after the hide upon which it was written. It also contained an exegesis of the Quran and the strange esoteric meanings within it, transmitted from Ja'far.
Ibn Khaldūn subsequently remarks: “The transmission of this book does not form an unbroken chain, nor is its actual text known. Only isolated statements from it surface, unsupported by any evidence.”
In *al-Imām al-Sādiq*, p. [0–9]4 (Dar al-Fikr al-Arabī ed.), Shaykh Muhammad Abū Zahra cites al-Kulaynī’s *al-Kāfī* as stating: “*Al-Jafr* contains the Torah of Moses, the Gospel of Jesus, the knowledge of the prophets and their legatees, the knowledge of earlier Israelite scholars, knowledge of what is lawful and unlawful, and knowledge of what has been and what will be.” He then states that *al-Jafr* consists of two parts: one written on a goatskin and the other on a ram’s hide. See al-Kulaynī, *al-Kāfī*, vol. 1, pp. 238–242, Tehran ed., 1381.
On *al-Jafr* and the other esoteric Shia works, see: *The Encyclopaedia of Islam*, the article “al-Jafr,” by Macdonald, and the article “Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq,” by Strashtīn; Goldziher, *al-Aqīda wa-al-Sharī'a fī al-Islām*, 2nd ed., pp. 211–212, 371–372; Muhammad Abū Zahra, *al-Imām al-Sādiq*, pp. [0–9]3–37. Compare al-Tahānawī, *Kashshāf Istilāhāt al-Funūn*, entry “al-Jafr.”
وَيُقَالُ ثَالِثًا:
الْكَذِبُ عَلَى هَؤُلَاءِ فِي الرَّافِضَةِ أَعْظَمُ الْأُمُورِ، لَاسِيَّمَا عَلَى جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّادِقِ، فَإِنَّهُ مَا كُذِبَ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مَا
(١)
كُذِبَ عَلَيْهِ، حَتَّى نَسَبُوا إِلَيْهِ كِتَابَ
" الْجَفْرِ "
وَ
" الْبِطَاقَةِ "
[وَ
" الْهَفْتِ "
]
(٢)
وَ
" اخْتِلَاجِ الْأَعْضَاءِ "
[وَ
" جَدْوَلِ الْهِلَالِ "
]
(٣)
وَ
" أَحْكَامِ الرُّعُودِ
(٤)
وَالْبُرُوقِ "
وَ
" مَنَافِعِ سُوَرِ الْقُرْآنِ "
(٥)
[وَ
" قِرَاءَةِ الْقُرْآنِ فِي الْمَنَامِ "
]
(٦)
.
(١) م: مِثْلَمَا.
(٢) وَالْهَفْتِ: سَاقِطَةٌ مِنْ (ن) .
(٣) وَجَدْوَلِ الْهِلَالِ: فِي (ع) فَقَطْ.
(٤) ن: الْوُعُودِ.
(٥) وَمَنَافِعِ سُوَرِ الْقُرْآنِ: سَاقِطٌ مِنْ (ب) ، (أ) .
(٦) وَقِرَاءَةِ الْقُرْآنِ فِي الْمَنَامِ: فِي (ع) فَقَطْ. وَقَدْ نُسِبَتْ إِلَى جَعْفَرٍ الصَّادِقِ عِدَّةُ كُتُبٍ مَوْضُوعُهَا الْعُلُومُ الْبَاطِنِيَّةُ الْخَفِيَّةُ الَّتِي يَزْعُمُ الشِّيعَةُ أَنَّ أَئِمَّتَهُمُ اخْتَصُّوا بِهَا، وَمِنْ أَشْهَرِ هَذِهِ الْكُتُبِ كِتَابُ " الْجَفْرِ " وَقَدْ نُسِبَ أَحْيَانًا إِلَى عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ (انْظُرْ بُرُوكِلْمَانْ ١/١٨٢ حَيْثُ يَتَكَلَّمُ عَنْ كِتَابٍ لِعَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ بِعُنْوَانِ " الْجَفْرِ، تَنَبُّؤًا بِالْأَحْدَاثِ إِلَى نِهَايَةِ الْعَالَمِ ") . وَنُسِبَ أَحْيَانًا أُخْرَى إِلَى جَعْفَرٍ الصَّادِقِ (انْظُرْ بُرُوكِلْمَانْ ١/٢٦٠، وَيَذْكُرُ بُرُوكِلْمَانْ أَيْضًا فِي نَفْسِ الصَّفْحَةِ أَنَّ مِنْ كُتُبِهِ كِتَابَ " اخْتِلَاجِ الْأَعْضَاءِ " وَكِتَابَ " مَنَافِعِ سُوَرِ الْقُرْآنِ ") . وَيَذْكُرُ ابْنُ خَلْدُونَ فِي مُقَدِّمَتِهِ ٢/٧٦٦ - ٧٦٧ (ط. عَلِي عَبْد الْوَاحِد وَافِي، ١٣٧٨/١٩٥٨) أَنَّ كِتَابَ الْجَفْرِ مِنَ الْكُتُبِ الَّتِي تُبَيِّنُ مَا يَطْرَأُ عَلَى الدُّوَلِ مِنْ أَحْدَاثٍ عَنْ طَرِيقِ الْآثَارِ وَالنُّجُومِ، وَيَقُولُ: إِنَّ هَارُونَ بْنَ سَعِيدٍ الْعِجْلِيَّ رَوَى هَذَا الْكِتَابَ عَنْ جَعْفَرٍ الصَّادِقِ وَفِيهِ عِلْمُ مَا سَيَقَعُ لِأَهْلِ الْبَيْتِ عَلَى الْعُمُومِ وَلِبَعْضِ الْأَشْخَاصِ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى الْخُصُوصِ، وَكَانَ مَكْتُوبًا عِنْدَ جَعْفَرٍ فِي جِلْدِ ثَوْرٍ صَغِيرٍ، وَلِذَلِكَ سَمَّاهُ هَارُونُ بَاسِمِ الْجِلْدِ الَّذِي كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِ، وَكَانَ فِيهِ تَفْسِيرُ الْقُرْآنِ وَمَا فِي بَاطِنِهِ مِنْ غَرَائِبِ الْمَعَانِي الْمَرْوِيَّةِ عَنْ جَعْفَرٍ. عَلَى أَنَّ ابْنَ خَلْدُونَ يَقُولُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ: " وَهَذَا الْكِتَابُ لَمْ تَتَّصِلْ رِوَايَتُهُ وَلَا عُرِفَ عَيْنُهُ، وَإِنَّمَا يَظْهَرُ مِنْهُ شَوَاذُّ مِنَ الْكَلِمَاتِ لَا يَصْحَبُهَا دَلِيلٌ ". وَيَنْقُلُ الْأُسْتَاذُ الشَّيْخُ مُحَمَّد أَبُو زَهْرَةَ فِي كِتَابِهِ: الْإِمَامِ الصَّادِقِ، ص [٠ - ٩] ٤ (ط. دَارِ الْفِكْرِ الْعَرَبِيِّ) عَنْ كِتَابِ " الْكَافِي " لِلْكُلَيْنِيِّ " أَنَّ الْجَفْرَ فِيهِ تَوْرَاةُ مُوسَى وَإِنْجِيلُ عِيسَى وَعُلُومُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْأَوْصِيَاءِ، وَمَنْ مَضَى مِنْ عُلَمَاءِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، وَعِلْمُ الْحَلَالِ وَالْحَرَامِ، وَعِلْمُ مَا كَانَ وَمَا يَكُونُ. ثُمَّ يَذْكُرُ أَنَّ الْجَفْرَ قِسْمَانِ: أَحَدُهُمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى إِهَابِ مَاعِزٍ، وَالْآخَرُ كُتِبَ عَلَى إِهَابِ كَبْشٍ ". وَانْظُرِ: الْكَافِي لِلْكُلَيْنِيِّ ١/٢٣٨ - ٢٤٢، ط. طَهْرَانَ، ١٣٨١. وَانْظُرْ عَنِ الْجَفْرِ وَسَائِرِ كُتُبِ الشِّيعَةِ الْبَاطِنِيَّةِ: دَائِرَةَ الْمَعَارِفِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ، مَادَّةَ " الْجَفْرِ " بِقَلَمِ مَاكْدُونَالْد، مَادَّةَ " جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّادِقِ " بِقَلَمِ سترشتين ; جُولْدتسيهر: الْعَقِيدَةَ وَالشَّرِيعَةَ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ (الطَّبْعَةَ الثَّانِيَةَ) ، ص ٢١١ - ٢١٢ - ٣٧١ - ٣٧٢ ; مُحَمَّد أَبُو زَهْرَةَ: الْإِمَامُ الصَّادِقُ، ص [٠ - ٩] ٣ - ٣٧. وَقَارِنِ: التَّهَانَوِيَّ: كَشَّافُ اصْطِلَاحَاتِ الْفُنُونِ، مَادَّةُ " الْجَفْرِ ".