Hadith record

4. A group of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Muhammad ibn Humran from Abu ‘Ubaydah (Ziyad ibn ‘Isa) al-Hadhdha’ that Abu Ja'far (al-Baqir) (as) said, “O Ziyad, beware of debates because they create doubts, invalidate one’s good deeds and turn one into a complete wreck. One may say a thing, perhaps, he will not be forgiven. In the past there lived a people who ignored acquiring the necessary knowledge and instead they sought a knowledge that was not required of them. They came to speak of Allah’s self and they became confused. Their extreme perplexity was such that if called from the front they would reply to the back and to the front if called from the back.” In another hadiths it reads, “Until they get lost on earth.”

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