رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله إِلَّا لِعِلَّةِ خَوْفِ ضَرُورَةٍ فَأَمَّا أَنْ نَسْتَحِلَّ مَا حَرَّمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله أَوْ نُحَرِّمَ مَا اسْتَحَلَّهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله فَلَا يَكُونُ ذَلِكَ أَبَداً لِأَنَّا تَابِعُونَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله مُسَلِّمُونَ لَهُ كَمَا كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله تَابِعاً لِأَمْرِ رَبِّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ مُسَلِّماً لَهُ وَ قَالَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ ما آتاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَ ما نَهاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا وَ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله نَهَى عَنْ أَشْيَاءَ لَيْسَ نَهْيَ حَرَامٍ بَلْ إِعَافَةٍ وَ كَرَاهَةٍ وَ أَمَرَ بِأَشْيَاءَ لَيْسَ بِأَمْرِ فَرْضٍ وَ لَا وَاجِبٍ بَلْ أَمْرُ فَضْلٍ وَ رُجْحَانٍ فِي الدِّينِ ثُمَّ رَخَّصَ فِي ذَلِكَ لِلْمَعْلُولِ وَ غَيْرِ الْمَعْلُولِ فَمَا كَانَ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله نَهْيَ إِعَافَةٍ أَوْ أَمْرَ فَضْلٍ فَذَلِكَ الَّذِي يَسَعُ اسْتِعْمَالُ الرُّخَصِ فِيهِ إِذَا وَرَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ عَنَّا فِيهِ الْخَبَرُ بِاتِّفَاقٍ يَرْوِيهِ مَنْ يَرْوِيهِ فِي النَّهْيِ وَ لَا يُنْكِرُهُ وَ كَانَ الْخَبَرَانِ صَحِيحَيْنِ مَعْرُوفَيْنِ بِاتِّفَاقِ النَّاقِلَةِ فِيهِمَا يَجِبُ الْأَخْذُ بِأَحَدِهِمَا أَوْ بِهِمَا جَمِيعاً أَوْ بِأَيِّهِمَا شِئْتَ وَ أَحْبَبْتَ مُوَسَّعٌ ذَلِكَ لَكَ مِنْ بَابِ التَّسْلِيمِ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ الرَّدِّ إِلَيْهِ وَ إِلَيْنَا وَ كَانَ تَارِكُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ بَابِ الْعِنَادِ وَ الْإِنْكَارِ وَ تَرْكِ التَّسْلِيمِ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله مُشْرِكاً بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ فَمَا وَرَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ خَبَرَيْنِ مُخْتَلِفَيْنِ فَاعْرِضُوهُمَا عَلَى كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَمَا كَانَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ مَوْجُوداً حَلَالًا أَوْ حَرَاماً فَاتَّبِعُوا مَا وَافَقَ الْكِتَابَ وَ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي الْكِتَابِ فَاعْرِضُوهُ عَلَى سُنَنِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله فَمَا كَانَ فِي السُّنَّةِ مَوْجُوداً مَنْهِيّاً عَنْهُ نَهْيَ حَرَامٍ أَوْ مَأْمُوراً بِهِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله أَمْرَ إِلْزَامٍ فَاتَّبِعُوا مِمَّا وَافَقَ نَهْيَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَ أَمْرَهُ وَ مَا كَانَ فِي السُّنَّةِ نَهْيَ إِعَافَةٍ أَوْ كَرَاهَةٍ ثُمَّ كَانَ الْخَبَرُ الْآخَرُ خِلَافَهُ فَذَلِكَ رُخْصَةٌ فِيمَا عَافَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ كَرِهَهُ وَ لَمْ يُحَرِّمْهُ فَذَلِكَ الَّذِي يَسَعُ الْأَخْذُ بِهِمَا جَمِيعاً أَوْ بِأَيِّهِمَا شِئْتَ وَسِعَكَ الِاخْتِيَارُ مِنْ بَابِ التَّسْلِيمِ وَ الِاتِّبَاعِ وَ الرَّدِّ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ مَا لَمْ تَجِدُوهُ فِي شَيْ ءٍ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْوُجُوهِ فَرُدُّوا إِلَيْنَا عِلْمَهُ فَنَحْنُ أَوْلَى بِذَلِكَ وَ لَا تَقُولُوا فِيهِ بِآرَائِكُمْ وَ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْكَفِّ وَ التَّثَبُّتِ وَ الْوُقُوفِ وَ أَنْتُمْ طَالِبُونَ بَاحِثُونَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْبَيَانُ مِنْ عِنْدِنَا.

which the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, commanded, except on account of fear of a danger that unavoidably follows (that is, cases of dissimulation). As for our making lawful what the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, made unlawful, or making unlawful what the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, held lawful — such a thing will never be, for we are followers of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and submissive to his commands and prohibitions, just as the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, was a follower of the commands of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, and submissive to His commands. God, Mighty and Majestic, says: "And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it." And the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, forbade things where that prohibition is not of the unlawful, but rather a prohibition and an avoidance of the kind of dislike, not of unlawfulness, his intent being to express dislike and displeasure, not prohibition; and he commanded matters where the command is not one of obligation and binding force, but rather by way of what is more excellent and preferable, leaving people free to do or to leave it, whether the one charged is excused from performing the act or not. So whatever has come from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, as a prohibition of the kind of dislike or a command of the kind of recommendation, acting upon which is not unlawful, or leaving which is not obligatory, and in the doing and leaving of which the Prophet granted leave — then whenever two reports come to you from us, one commanding something and the other forbidding those two things, and one and the same man has set both down in his book and has denied neither, and if both reports are sound and well known by the agreement of the transmitters, then in this case it is obligatory that one of them or both be taken, or you may cling to whichever you wish and have leave to do so, by way of submission to the word of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and of referring knowledge of it back to him and to us wherever the duty was not clear — for whoever abandons submission out of obstinacy and denial toward the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, will be one who associates partners with God the Great. So any report of the reports that is related to you and has a conflicting counterpart — before anything else present them both to the Book of God; then the report that accords with what is in the Book of God of the lawful or the unlawful, apply it and act upon it; and if you do not find it in the Book of God, present it to the practices of the Prophet, may God bless him and his family; then whatever ruling was present in the practice of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family — for instance something that was forbidden by a prohibition of making unlawful, or that was commanded by a command of obligation and binding force — apply the report that accords with that practice and act according to it. And whatever has come in the practice as a prohibition of dislike and against which a contrary report has come — this is a leave in what the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, had forbidden and held displeasing, not unlawful and prohibited. Here it is possible to cling to both reports and the choice rests with the person himself, since both are from the Prophet of God (and we must be submissive to him and follow him, and in every matter we do not know and whose ruling is doubtful, refer back to him). And whatever belonged to none of these cases and did not fit them, refer knowledge of it back to us, for we have the better right to it, and do not say anything of your own accord and by your own opinion. And it is upon you to be careful and to examine and to halt at "doubtful matters", and to be in search and discussion concerning them in order to understand and find, until the explanation and statement of it comes from us and the matter becomes clear.

قال الصدوق رحمه اللّٰه كان شيخنا محمد بن الحسن بن أحمد بن الوليد رضي اللّٰه عنه سيئ الرأي في محمد بن عبد اللّٰه المسمعي راوي هذا الحديث و إنما أخرجت هذا الخبر في هذا الكتاب لأنه كان في كتاب الرحمة و قد قرأته عليه فلم ينكره و رواه لي.

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, may God have mercy on him, says: Our shaykh Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Ahmad b. al-Walid, may God be pleased with him, did not hold a good opinion of Muhammad b. 'Abdallah al-Misma'i, the narrator of this report, and in his view he was not trustworthy; but I extracted this report in this book from Kitab al-Rahma (of Sa'd b. 'Abdallah al-Ash'ari), and when I read that book to my teacher he did not object to it nor find fault with it, and he gave me leave to relate it.