Signs of Edible and Inedible Eggs

1. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn abu Nasr from al-‘Ala’ from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “I once asked one of the two Imam, (abu Ja‘far or abu ‘ Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about the eggs that I may find in the wilderness. He (the Imam) said, ’Do not eat unless the shape of its both ends is different.’”

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

2. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Ali ibn al-Zayyat (Ali ibn Ri’ab) from Zurarah who has said the following: “I once asked abu Ja’far (a.s.), about the eggs that I may find in the wilderness. He (the Imam) said, ‘Do not eat whatever has its both ends of the same shape and eat that which has the ends of different shapes.’”

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

3. It is narrated from the narrator of the previous Hadith from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from ‘Umar ibn ‘Udhaynah Zurarah from abu al-Khattab who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who enters the wilderness and finds different eggs which he does not know from what kind of birds they are; if it is of birds that are undesirable or of the desirable ones. He (the Imam) said, ‘There is knowledge in it which is not unclear. If you look at each egg you can find which end is the head and which end is the bottom in which case you can eat; but if you cannot distinguish the shape of one end from the other, then leave it.’”

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

4. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Harun ibn Muslim from Mas’adah ibn Sadaqah who has said the following: “I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘If both ends of an egg are not of the same shape you then can use it for food.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If it is of the eggs of the birds of water like the eggs of chicken with one end wider, otherwise, do not use it for food.’”

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

5. Certain persons of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Jumhur from Muhammad ibn al-Qasim from ibn abu Ya‘fur who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the eggs that I may find in the wilderness and about which ones are edible. He (the Imam) said, ‘Eat whatever is of different shapes at both ends.’”

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