Hadith 6-16

حَدَّثَنا أَبُو القاسِمِ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الصائِغُ، قالَ: حَدَّثَنا أَبُو عَبْدِاللَّهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٌ، قالَ: حَدَّثَنا الحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِىٍّ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا صَفْوانُ بْنُ عَمْروٍ، عَنْ شُرَيح بْنِ عُبِيْدٍ، عَنْ عَمْروٍ البُكائيِّ، عَنْ كَعْبِ الأَحْبارِ، قالَ فِي الخُلَفاءِ: هُمُ اثْنا عَشَر فَإِذا كانَ عِندَ انْقِضائِهِمْ وَأَتى‏ طَبَقَةٌ صالِحَةٌ، مَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُم فِي العُمْرِ كَذلِكَ وَعَدَ اللَّهُ هذِهِ الاُمَّةِ ثُمَّ قَرَأَ: «وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فيِ الأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ»، قالَ و كَذلِكَ فَعَلَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِبَنِي إِسْرائِيلَ، وَلَيْسَ بِعَزِيز أَنْ تَجْمَـعَ هذا الاُمَّةَ يَوْماً أوْ نِصْفَ يَوْمٍ «وَإِنَّ يَوْماً عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ.» وَقَدْ أَخْرَجْتُ طُرُق هذِهِ الأخْبار كِتاب الْخِصالِ.

Abul Qasim Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Sa’igh narrated that Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa’eed quoted on the authority of Al-Hassan ibn Ali, on the authority of al-Waleed ibn Muslim, on the authority of Safwan ibn Amr, on the authority of Shorayh ibn Obayd, on the authority of Amr al-Boka’ee, on the authority of Ka’b al-Ahbar, “The Caliphs are twelve. When their time ends and righteous people come, then God will extend their life as God has promised to His nation.” Then he recited (the verse), ‘God has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them…’ [12] He continued, “The Honorable the Exalted God treated the Children of Israel the same way. It is not hard for the Noble God to gather this nation in one day or half a day, ‘…Verily a Day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning.’ [13] (The author of the book said,) I have compiled the various forms of such traditions in AL-KHISAL.