Hadith record

7. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from Sa’dan from Mu’attib who has said the following: “Abu al-Hassan Musa (a.s.) once was in his compound that had palm-trees. 1 looked at one of his slaves who had picked up a certain amount of dates. He threw it on the other side of the wall. I went and picked up what he had thrown and I brought it to the Imam. I said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, 1 found him and this amount of dates.’ The Imam called the slave, ‘O so and so.’ ‘Yes, sir,’ the slave replied. ‘Are you hungry?’ asked the Imam. ‘No, sir,’ replied the slave. ‘Do you need clothes?’ asked the Imam. ‘No, sir,’ replied the slave. ‘What for did then you take this many dates?’ inquired the Imam. ‘I just wanted,’ said the slave. ‘Take them. They are for you. Let him go,’ the Imam said to others.’”

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