Hadith No. 5
The Earth is never without a scholar who knows addition and imperfection.
رَوَى مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيِّ بْنِ بَابَوَيْهِ [ت381ه] فِي «كَمَالِ الدِّينِ وَتَمَامِ النِّعْمَةِ»[1]، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ قَالَا: حَدَّثَنَا سَعْدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ وَعَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى، عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ أَبِي الصَّبَّاحِ، عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ -يَعْنِي جَعْفَرَ بْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّادِقَ- عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ قَالَ:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى لَمْ يَدَعِ الْأَرْضَ إِلَّا وَفِيهَا عَالِمٌ يَعْلَمُ الزِّيَادَةَ وَالنُّقْصَانَ، فَإِذَا زَادَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ شَيْئًا رَدَّهُمْ، وَإِذَا نَقَصُوا شَيْئًا أَكْمَلَهُ لَهُمْ، وَلَوْلَا ذَلِكَ لَالْتَبَسَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أُمُورُهُمْ.
Translation:
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Babawayh [d. 381 AH] has narrated in the book Kamal al-Din Wa Tamam al-Ni‘mah, (in this manner that) he has said: My father and Muhammad ibn Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated to us, they said: Sa‘d ibn Abdullah and Abdullah ibn Ja‘far narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Isa, from Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Abu al-Sabbah, from Abu Abdullah—meaning Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq—, who said:
Indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has not left the Earth except that there is a scholar on it who knows addition and imperfection, so that whenever believers add something, he brings them back, and whenever they decrease something, he perfects it for them. And were it not so, the affairs of believers would have become doubtful for them.