Al-Fakhtah and AI-SuIsul

كَانَتْ فِي دَارِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ع فَاخِتَةٌ فَسَمِعَهَا يَوْماً وَ هِيَ تَصِيحُ فَقَالَ لَهُمْ أَ تَدْرُونَ مَا تَقُولُ هَذِهِ الْفَاخِتَةُ قَالُوا لَا قَالَ تَقُولُ فَقَدْتُكُمْ فَقَدْتُكُمْ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَنَفْقِدَنَّهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ تَفْقِدَنَا ثُمَّ أَمَرَ بِهَا فَذُبِحَتْ.

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that in the house of abu Ja‘far (a.s.), there was al-Fakhtah and he one day heard it crying. He (the Imam) said, ‘Do you know what it (al-Fakhtah) says?’ They replied, ‘No, we do not know.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It says, ‘I have lost you, I have lost you.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘We will lo

أَهْدَيْتُ إِلَى إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْنِ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع صُلْصُلًا فَدَخَلَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع فَلَمَّا رَآهَا قَالَ هَذَا الطَّيْرَ الْمَشُومَ أَخْرِجُوهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَقُولُ فَقَدْتُكُمْ فَقَدْتُكُمْ فَافْقِدُوهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَفْقِدَكُمْ.

“I once gave a Sulsul as a gift to Tsma’il, son of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), came in. When he (the Imam) saw it he said, ‘This bird is an unfortunate bird, so you must send it away. It says, ‘I have failed to find you, I have failed to find you.’ You must lose it before it fails to find you.”’

دَخَلْتُ عَلَى أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ص فَقَالَ لِي يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ اذْهَبْ‌ بِنَا إِلَى إِسْمَاعِيلَ نَعُودُهُ وَ كَانَ شَاكِياً فَقُمْنَا وَ دَخَلْنَا عَلَى إِسْمَاعِيلَ فَإِذَا فِي مَنْزِلِهِ فَاخِتَةٌ فِي قَفَصٍ تَصِيحُ فَقَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع يَا بُنَيَّ مَا يَدْعُوكَ إِلَى إِمْسَاكِ هَذِهِ الْفَاخِتَةِ أَ وَ مَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّهَا مَشُومَةٌ أَ وَ مَا تَدْرِي مَا تَقُولُ قَالَ إِسْمَاعِيلُ لَا قَالَ إِنّ

“I once visited abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and he said to me, ‘O abu Muhammad, come with us to visit Tsma‘il because of his illness. We left to visit Tsma‘il and in his house we saw al-Fakhtah in a cage crying. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘Son, what has made you to keep this al- Fakhtah? Did you not know that it is a misf