كُنْتُ عِنْدَ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع إِذْ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ رَجُلَانِ مِنَ الزَّيْدِيَّةِ فَقَالا لَهُ أَ فِيكُمْ إِمَامٌ مُفْتَرَضُ الطَّاعَةِ قَالَ فَقَالَ لَا[3] قَالَ فَقَالا لَهُ قَدْ أَخْبَرَنَا عَنْكَ الثِّقَاتُ أَنَّكَ تُفْتِي وَ تُقِرُّ وَ تَقُولُ بِهِ[4] وَ نُسَمِّيهِمْ لَكَ فُلَانٌ وَ فُلَانٌ وَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ وَرَعٍ وَ تَشْمِيرٍ[5] وَ هُمْ مِمَّنْ لَا يَكْذِبُ[6] فَغَضِبَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع فَقَالَ- م
“I was in the presence of Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) when two people from the Zaydiyya sect came to him. They asked, 'Is there with you an Imam obedience to whom is obligatory?' The narrator has said that the Imam (a.s.) said, 'No, there no one as such.' They then said, 'Reliable people have informed us about you that you is