دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ بِرَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ وَ كَانَ مِنْ أَفْضَلِ النَّاسِ وَ أَحَبِّهِمْ إِلَی اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ بَعْدَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَ الصِّدِّيقِينَ وَ حَشَرَهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مَعَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَ الصِّدِّيقِينَ وَ الشُّهَداءِ وَ الصَّالِحِينَ وَ حَسُنَ أُولئِكَ رَفِيقاً
will enter Paradise by God's mercy and will be, after the prophets and the successors, the most excellent of people and the most beloved to God; and God will gather him on the Day of Resurrection with the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous — and excellent companions are they.
بيان: ظاهر هذا الخبر أنه لا يشترط في حفظ الأربعين حديثا كونها منفصلة بعضها عن بعض في النقل بل يكفي لذلك حفظ خبر واحد يشتمل على أربعين حكما إذ كل منها يصلح لأن يكون حديثا برأسه و يحتمل أن يكون المراد بيان مورد هذه الأحاديث أي أربعين حديثا يتعلق بهذه الأمور و شرح هذه الخصال سيأتي في أبوابها و تصحيح عدد الأربعين إنما يتيسر بجعل بعض الفقرات المكررة ظاهرا تفسيرا و تأكيدا لبعض ١.
Elucidation: The outward sense of this hadith indicates that, in memorising forty hadiths, it is not a condition that the hadiths be separate from one another in their transmission; rather a single hadith containing forty rulings suffices, since each of them is fit to stand as an independent hadith. And it may be that what is meant is to state the subjects of the hadiths that pertain to these matters; the explanation of these traits will come shortly in their chapters. And making the number forty come out right is possible only if some of the clauses repeated in the hadith are by way of explaining or emphasising others.
«8»- صح، صحيفة الرضا عليه السلام عَنِ الرِّضَا عَنْ آبَائِهِ عليهم السلام قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله مَنْ حَفِظَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي أَرْبَعِينَ حَدِيثاً يَنْتَفِعُونَ بِهَا بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَقِيهاً عَالِماً.
Sahifat al-Rida, peace be upon him: It is related with a chain that Imam al-Rida, peace be upon him, said that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, said: Whoever preserves forty hadiths for my community, so that they may benefit from them, God will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection as a jurist and a learned man.
«9»- غو، غوالي اللئالي رَوَى مُعَاذُ بْنُ جَبَلٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله مَنْ حَفِظَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي أَرْبَعِينَ حَدِيثاً مِنْ أَمْرِ دِينِهَا بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فِي زُمْرَةِ الْفُقَهَاءِ وَ الْعُلَمَاءِ.
'Awali al-La'ali: Mu'adh b. Jabal says: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, said: Whoever of my community memorises forty hadiths concerning the matter of his Hereafter, God will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection among the jurists and the learned.
«10»- غو، غوالي اللئالي قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله مَنْ حَفِظَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي أَرْبَعِينَ حَدِيثاً يَنْتَفِعُونَ بِهَا فِي أَمْرِ دِينِهِمْ بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَقِيهاً عَالِماً.
'Awali al-La'ali: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, said: Whoever of my community memorises forty hadiths from which he benefits in the matter of his religion, God will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection as a learned jurist.
بيان: هذا المضمون مشهور مستفيض بين الخاصة و العامة بل قيل إنه متواتر و اختلف فيما أريد بالحفظ فيها فقد قيل إن المراد الحفظ عن ظهر القلب فإنه هو المتعارف المعهود في الصدر السالف فإن مدارهم كان على النقش على الخواطر لا على الرسم في الدفاتر حتى منع بعضهم من الاحتجاج بما لم يحفظه الراوي عن ظهر القلب
Elucidation: The substance of these hadiths is well known and widely transmitted among both Shi'a and Sunnis — indeed it is said to have reached the level of mass transmission. But people have differed over the meaning of "memorising" a hadith. It is said: what is meant by memorising is that one keep it in the heart, as this is the usual sense among people and as the practice of those of former times was upon this method, hadiths being imprinted on memories rather than on notebooks — so much so that some hadith scholars forbade using as proof a hadith which its narrator did not hold in memory by heart.