حيان السراج واحتجاج أبى عبد الله

I entered upon Abi Abdillah عليه السلام so he said to me: if you had come in a little earlier you would have met Hayyan al-Sarraj, he (Burayd) said: and he (al-Sadiq) pointed out a place in the room and said – he (Hayyan) was sat there, then he (Hayyan) brought up Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya and talked about his life (continued existence), and he began praising him and extolling him. So I (al-Sadiq) said to him: O Hayyan! don’t you and others claim and narrate: ‘there is nothing that happened to the Bani Israil except that it is also to occur in this Umma’, he (Hayyan) replied: yes, so I (al-Sadiq) said: then have we or you seen or heard – a Scholar (divine leader) – who died in the estimation of the people (as far as the people were concerned), and his wives were married off, and his inheritance was redistributed, while he was still alive not dead?!, so he (Hayyan) stood up (to leave) and did not answer me anything.