و كان أبي رضي اللّٰه عنه يروي عن جده محمد بن أحمد بن علي بن الصلت قدس اللّٰه روحه و يصف علمه و فضله و زهده و عبادته و كان أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى في فضله و جلالته يروي عن أبي طالب عبد اللّٰه بن الصلت القمي ١رضي اللّٰه عنه و بقي حتى لقيه محمد بن الحسن الصفار و روي عنه فلما أظفرني اللّٰه تعالى ذكره بهذا الشيخ الذي هو من أهل هذا البيت الرفيع شكرت اللّٰه تعالى ذكره على ما يسر لي من لقائه و أكرمني به من إخائه و حباني ٢به من وده و صفائه فبينا هو يحدثني ذات يوم إذ ذكر لي عن رجل قد لقيه ببخارا من كبار الفلاسفة و المنطقيين كلاما في القائم عليه السلام قد حيره و شككه في أمره بطول غيبته و انقطاع أخباره فذكرت له فصولا في إثبات كونه و رويت له أخبارا في غيبته عن النبي و الأئمة صلوات اللّٰه عليهم سكنت إليها نفسه و زال بها عن قلبه ما كان دخل عليه من الشك و الارتياب و الشبهة و تلقي ما سمعه من الآثار الصحيحة بالسمع و الطاعة و القبول و التسليم و سألني أن أصنف في هذا المعنى كتابا فأجبته إلى ملتمسه و وعدته جمع ما ابتغى إذا سهل اللّٰه العود إلى مستقري و وطني بالري. فبينا أنا ذات ليلة أفكر فيما خلفت ورائي من أهل و ولد و إخوان و نعمة إذ غلبني النوم فرأيت كأني بمكة أطوف حول البيت الحرام و أنا في الشوط السابع عند الحجر الأسود أستلمه و أقبله و أقول أمانتي أديتها و ميثاقي تعاهدته لتشهد لي بالموافاة فأرى مولانا القائم صاحب الزمان صلوات اللّٰه عليه واقفا بباب الكعبة فأدنو منه على شغل قلب و تقسم فكر فعلم عليه السلام ما في نفسي بتفرسه في وجهي فسلمت عليه فرد على السلام ثم قال لي لم لا تصنف كتابا في الغيبة تكفي ما قد همتك فقلت له يا ابن رسول اللّٰه قد صنفت في الغيبة أشياء فقال صلوات اللّٰه عليه ليس على ذلك السبيل آمرك أن تصنف و لكن صنف الآن كتابا في الغيبة و اذكر فيه غيبات الأنبياء عليه السلام

And my father, may God be pleased with him, used to relate from his grandfather Muhammad b. Ahmad b. 'Ali b. al-Salt, may God sanctify his spirit, and would describe his learning, his excellence, his abstinence and his worship. And Ahmad b. Muhammad b. 'Isa, for all his excellence and eminence, used to relate from Abu Talib 'Abd Allah b. al-Salt al-Qummi (1), may God be pleased with him; and he lived on until Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar met him and related from him. So when God, exalted be His mention, granted me the good fortune of this shaykh, who is of the people of this lofty house, I thanked God, exalted be His mention, for what He made easy for me of meeting him, and honoured me with of his brotherhood, and bestowed upon me (2) of his affection and his sincerity. Now while he was speaking with me one day, he mentioned to me, concerning a man he had met at Bukhara from among the great philosophers and logicians, words about the Qa'im, peace be upon him, which had bewildered him and made him doubt his affair, on account of the length of his occultation and the cutting off of news of him. So I set out for him sections establishing his existence, and related to him reports concerning his occultation from the Prophet and the Imams, God's blessings be upon them, by which his soul was set at rest, and by which there departed from his heart the doubt, misgiving and confusion that had entered upon him; and he received what he heard of the sound traditions with hearing, obedience, acceptance and submission. And he asked me to compose a book on this subject. So I answered his request, and promised him to gather what he sought when God should make easy the return to my abode and my homeland at Rayy. Then one night, while I was thinking of what I had left behind me of family, children, brethren and blessings, sleep overcame me, and I saw as though I were at Mecca circling the Sacred House, and I was in the seventh circuit at the Black Stone, touching it and kissing it and saying: My trust I have discharged, and my covenant I have kept, that you may bear witness for me to the fulfilment. And I saw our master the Qa'im, the Lord of the Age, God's blessings be upon him, standing at the door of the Ka'ba. So I drew near to him with a preoccupied heart and a divided mind; and he, peace be upon him, knew what was in my soul by reading it in my face. I greeted him, and he returned the greeting, then said to me: Why do you not compose a book on the occultation, so as to be spared what has troubled you? I said to him: O son of the Messenger of God, I have composed things on the occultation. He, God's blessings be upon him, said: Not in that manner do I command you to compose; rather compose now a book on the occultation, and mention in it the occultations of the prophets, peace be upon them.