Hadith record

3. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Salih abu Hammad from al-Washsha’ from Ahmad ibn ‘A’idh from abu Khadijah who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Once the brother of my father (a.s.), ‘Abd Allah ibn Ali came to ask permission for ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd, Wasil and Bashir al-Rahhahl and he granted them permission. They sat down. He (the Imam) said, ‘For everything there is a limit where it ends.’ They brought food and it was made available. They said to each other, ‘We have achieved the chance we wanted.’ They said, ‘O abu Ja’far, is this table of food something?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, that is true.’ They asked, ‘What are its limits?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Of its limits is that when it is made ready one must say, ‘In the name of Allah’, and when it is taken away one must say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah,’ that every human being must eat from what is nearest to him, and must not take from what is before the others.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.