Hadith No. 15
“The condition of people will keep getting worse until they return to the Imam.”
رَوَى عَلِيُّ بْنُ بَابَوَيْهِ [ت329ه] فِي «الْإِمَامَةِ وَالتَّبْصِرَةِ»[1]، عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى، عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ يَحْيَى، عَنِ ابْنِ مُسْكَانَ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ، عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ -يَعْنِي جَعْفَرَ بْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّادِقَ- عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، قَالَ:
لَا يَصْلُحُ النَّاسُ إِلَّا بِإِمَامٍ وَلَا تَصْلُحُ الْأَرْضُ إِلَّا بِذَلِكَ.
Translation:
Ali ibn Babawayh [d. 329 AH] has narrated in the book al-Imamah Wa al-Tabsirah, from Sa‘d ibn Abdullah, from Muhammad ibn Isa, from Safwan ibn Yahya, from ibn Muskan, from Hasan ibn Ziyad, from Abu Abdullah—meaning Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq—
who said:
People do not find order except through an Imam, and the Earth is not reformed except through an Imam.
Consideration
قَالَ الْمَنْصُورُ حَفِظَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: بِهَذَا نَقُولُ وَإِلَيْهِ نَدْعُو، وَقَالَ: لَا يَزَالُ أَمْرُ النَّاسِ يَذْهَبُ سَفَالًا حَتَّى يَرْجِعُوا إِلَى الْإِمَامِ الَّذِي أَمَرَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِطَاعَتِهِ.
Translation:
Mansoor 
said: “We assert this and call to it.” He also said: “The condition of people will keep getting worse until they return to the Imam whom Allah has commanded them to obey.”
