ثُمَّ قَالَ عَلَيْهِ لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ أَمَّا فِي قَوْلِهِ إِنِّي رَجُلٌ صُحُفِيٌّ فَقَدْ صَدَقَ قَرَأْتُ صُحُفَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَ مُوسَی فَقُلْتُ لَهُ وَ مَنْ لَهُ بِمِثْلِ تِلْكَ الصُّحُفِ قَالَ فَمَا لَبِثْتُ أَنْ طَرَقَ الْبَابَ طَارِقٌ وَ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ جَمَاعَةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَالَ لِلْغُلَامِ انْظُرْ مَنْ ذَا فَرَجَعَ الْغُلَامُ فَقَالَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ قَالَ أَدْخِلْهُ فَدَخَلَ فَسَلَّمَ عَلَى أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام فَرَدَّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامَ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَصْلَحَكَ اللَّهُ أَ تَأْذَنُ لِي فِي الْقُعُودِ فَأَقْبَلَ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ يُحَدِّثُهُمْ وَ لَمْ يَلْتَفِتْ إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ الثَّانِيَةَ وَ الثَّالِثَةَ فَلَمْ يَلْتَفِتْ إِلَيْهِ فَجَلَسَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ مِنْ غَيْرِ إِذْنِهِ فَلَمَّا عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ قَدْ جَلَسَ الْتَفَتَ إِلَيْهِ فَقَالَ أَيْنَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ فَقَالَ هُوَ ذَا أَصْلَحَكَ اللَّهُ فَقَالَ أَنْتَ فَقِيهُ أَهْلِ الْعِرَاقِ قَالَ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَبِمَا تُفْتِيهِمْ قَالَ بِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّهِ قَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ تَعْرِفُ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ حَقَّ مَعْرِفَتِهِ وَ تَعْرِفُ النَّاسِخَ وَ الْمَنْسُوخَ قَالَ نَعَمْ قَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ وَ لَقَدْ ادَّعَيْتَ عِلْماً وَيْلَكَ مَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا عِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ الَّذِينَ أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيْلَكَ وَ لَا هُوَ إِلَّا عِنْدَ الْخَاصِّ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّةِ نَبِيِّنَا صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ مَا وَرَّثَكَ اللَّهُ مِنْ كِتَابِهِ حَرْفاً فَإِنْ كُنْتَ كَمَا تَقُولُ وَ لَسْتَ كَمَا تَقُولُ فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ سِيرُوا فِيها لَيالِيَ وَ أَيَّاماً آمِنِينَ أَيْنَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ قَالَ أَحْسَبُهُ مَا بَيْنَ مَكَّةَ وَ الْمَدِينَةِ فَالْتَفَتَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام إِلَى أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَالَ تَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ النَّاسَ يُقْطَعُ عَلَيْهِمْ بَيْنَ الْمَدِينَةِ وَ مَكَّةَ فَتُؤْخَذُ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَ لَا يَأْمَنُونَ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَ يُقْتَلُونَ قَالُوا نَعَمْ قَالَ فَسَكَتَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ أَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ مَنْ دَخَلَهُ كانَ آمِناً أَيْنَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ قَالَ الْكَعْبَةُ قَالَ أَ فَتَعْلَمُ أَنَّ الْحَجَّاجَ بْنَ يُوسُفَ حِينَ وَضَعَ الْمَنْجَنِيقَ عَلَى ابْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ فِي الْكَعْبَةِ فَقَتَلَهُ كَانَ آمِناً فِيهَا قَالَ فَسَكَتَ ثُمَّ قَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ إِذَا وَرَدَ عَلَيْكَ شَيْ ءٌ لَيْسَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَ لَمْ تَأْتِ بِهِ الْآثَارُ وَ السُّنَّةُ كَيْفَ تَصْنَعُ فَقَالَ أَصْلَحَكَ اللَّهُ أَقِيسُ وَ أَعْمَلُ فِيهِ بِرَأْيِي قَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ إِنَّ أَوَّلَ مَنْ قَاسَ إِبْلِيسُ الْمَلْعُونُ قَاسَ عَلَى رَبِّنَا تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى فَقَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِنْ نارٍ وَ خَلَقْتَهُ مِنْ طِينٍ فَسَكَتَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ أَيُّمَا أَرْجَسُ الْبَوْلُ أَوِ الْجَنَابَةُ فَقَالَ الْبَوْلُ فَقَالَ النَّاسُ يَغْتَسِلُونَ مِنَ الْجَنَابَةِ وَ لَا يَغْتَسِلُونَ مِنَ الْبَوْلِ فَسَكَتَ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ أَيُّمَا أَفْضَلُ الصَّلَاةُ أَمِ الصَّوْمُ قَالَ الصَّلَاةُ فَقَالَ فَمَا بَالُ الْحَائِضِ تَقْضِي صَوْمَهَا وَ لَا تَقْضِي صَلَاتَهَا فَسَكَتَ قَالَ يَا أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ أَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ رَجُلٍ كَانَتْ لَهُ أُمُّ وَلَدٍ وَ لَهُ مِنْهَا ابْنَةٌ وَ كَانَتْ لَهُ حُرَّةٌ لَا تَلِدُ فَزَارَتِ الصَّبِيَّةُ

and said: God's curse be upon him; and then he said: As for Abu Hanifa's saying that I am a man of the scrolls and have taken my knowledge from books — he has spoken truly: I have read the scrolls of my fathers Abraham and Moses. I said: Who has the like of these scrolls?! Then the narrator says: Not long after, and no great time had passed in my stay with the Imam, when someone knocked at the door of the Imam's house with a group of people. The Imam said to the servant: See who it is. The servant went and returned and said: It is Abu Hanifa. The Imam said: Bring him in. So Abu Hanifa came in and greeted, and the Imam, peace be upon him, returned his greeting. Abu Hanifa said: May God make your state good; do you permit me to sit? The Imam turned to Abu Hanifa's companions and began speaking with them and paid no attention to Abu Hanifa. Abu Hanifa repeated his words a second and a third time, but the Imam gave him no notice or attention; this time Abu Hanifa sat without the Imam's permission, and when the Imam saw that he had sat, he turned to him and said: Where is Abu Hanifa? It was said to him: May God make your state good, this is Abu Hanifa. The Imam said: Are you the jurist of the people of Iraq? He said: Yes. The Imam said: On what authority do you give them rulings? He said: On the Book of God and the practice of His Prophet, may God bless him and his family. The Imam said: O Abu Hanifa, are you aware of and learned in the Book of God as one ought to be aware? Are you aware and informed, and do you know its abrogating and abrogated? He said: Yes. The Imam said: O Abu Hanifa, you have claimed knowledge. Woe to you! God the Exalted has placed this knowledge only among the people of the Qur'an upon whom He sent it down. Woe to you! This knowledge is solely with particular persons of the Prophet's progeny, may God bless him and his family, and God has not taught you a single letter of it. And if you are as you claim — which you are not — tell me about the word of the Truth, Mighty and Majestic: "Travel in them by night and by day in safety." In what part of the earth were these villages and towns? Abu Hanifa said: I suppose they were between Mecca and Medina. The Imam, peace be upon him, looked at his companions and said: You know that between Medina and Mecca the road was not safe, and highway robbers used to block the road against travellers there and plunder their property, and they had no security at all for their lives and would often be killed. So these villages and towns are not what the Truth, Mighty and Majestic, meant. The companions said: Yes, it is just as you say. The narrator says: Abu Hanifa fell silent. After that the Imam said: O Abu Hanifa, tell me about the word of the Truth, Mighty and Majestic: "And whoever enters it is safe." What place of the earth is this? Abu Hanifa said: What is meant is the Ka'ba. The Imam, peace be upon him, said: Do you know that al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf set up a catapult against the Ka'ba and killed Ibn al-Zubayr? How then was Ibn al-Zubayr not safe? The narrator said: Abu Hanifa fell silent. Then the Imam, peace be upon him, said to him: O Abu Hanifa, when you meet with a matter whose ruling is not in the Book of God and which the reports and prophetic practices do not make clear, what will you do? Abu Hanifa said: May God make your state good, I use analogy and act in it by my own opinion. The Imam said: O Abu Hanifa, the first to use analogy was the accursed Iblis; he used analogy before the exalted Lord and said: I am better than Adam, for You created me from fire and him from clay. Abu Hanifa fell silent. Then the Imam said: O Abu Hanifa, which is more impure, urine or semen? Abu Hanifa said: Urine. The Imam, peace be upon him, said: Then why do people perform the major ablution for semen and not so for urine? Abu Hanifa fell silent and said nothing. The Imam, peace be upon him, said: O Abu Hanifa, is prayer more excellent or fasting? He said: Prayer. The Imam said: Then why is the menstruating woman obliged to make up the fast while making up the prayer is not upon her? Abu Hanifa fell silent and said nothing.