٤ - حدثنا محمد بن علي ماجيلويه رحمه الله عن عمه محمد بن أبي القاسم، عن أحمد بن محمد بن خالد، عن محمد بن علي الكوفي، عن عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن أبي هاشم عن أحمد بن محسن الميثمي، قال: كنت عند أبي منصور المتطبب، فقال: أخبرني رجل من أصحابي قال: كنت أنا وابن أبي العوجاء وعبد الله بن المقفع في المسجد الحرام، فقال ابن المقفع: ترون هذا الخلق؟ وأومأ بيده إلى موضع الطواف - ما منهم أحد أوجب له اسم الإنسانية إلا ذلك الشيخ الجالس - يعني جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام - فأما الباقون فرعاع وبهائم، فقال له ابن أبي العوجاء: وكيف أوجبت هذا الاسم لهذا الشيخ دون هؤلاء؟ قال: لأني رأيت عنده ما لم أر عندهم، فقال ابن أبي - العوجاء: ما بد من اختبار ما قلت فيه منه، فقال له ابن المقفع: لا تفعل، فإني أخاف أن يفسد عليك ما في يدك، فقال: ليس ذا رأيك، ولكنك تخاف أن يضعف رأيك عندي في إحلالك إياه المحل الذي وصفت، فقال ابن المقفع: أما إذا توهمت على هذا فقم إليه، وتحفظ ما استطعت من الزلل، ولا تثن عنانك إلى استرسال يسلمك إلى عقال، وسمه ما لك أو عليك  قال: فقام ابن أبي العوجاء، و بقيت أنا وابن المقفع، فرجع إلينا، فقال: يا ابن المقفع ما هذا ببشر، وإن كان في الدنيا روحاني يتجسد إذا شاء ظاهرا ويتروح إذا شاء باطنا فهو هذا، فقال له: وكيف ذاك؟ فقال: جلست إليه، فلما لم يبق عنده غيري ابتدأني فقال: إن يكن الأمر على ما يقول هؤلاء وهو على ما يقولون يعني أهل الطواف فقد سلموا وعطبتم وإن يكن الأمر على ما تقولون وليس كما تقولون فقد استويتم أنتم وهو، فقلت له: يرحمك الله وأي شئ نقول وأي شئ يقولون؟ ما قولي وقولهم إلا واحدا، قال: فكيف يكون قولك وقولهم واحدا وهم يقولون: إن لهم معادا وثوابا و عقابا ويدينون بأن للسماء إلها وأنها عمران وأنتم تزعمون أن السماء خراب ليس فيها أحد. قال: فاغتنمتها منه فقلت له: ما منعه إن كان الأمر كما تقول أن يظهر لخلقه و يدعوهم إلى عبادته حتى لا يختلف منهم اثنان ولم احتجب عنهم وأرسل إليهم الرسل؟! ولو باشرهم بنفسه كان أقرب إلى الإيمان به، فقال لي: ويلك وكيف احتجب عنك من أراك قدرته في نفسك نشوءك ولم تكن  وكبرك بعد صغرك، وقوتك بعد ضغفك وضعفك بعد قوتك، وسقمك بعد صحتك، وصحتك بعد سقمك، ورضاك بعد غضبك وغضبك بعد رضاك، وحزنك بعد فرحك، وفرحك بعد حزنك، وحبك بعد بغضك وبغضك بعد حبك، وعزمك بعد إبائك، وإبائك بعد عزمك وشهوتك بعد كراهتك وكراهتك بعد شهوتك، ورغبتك بعد رهبتك، ورهبتك بعد رغبتك، ورجاءك بعد يأسك، ويأسك بعد رجائك، وخاطرك بما لم يكن في وهمك، وعزوب ما أنت معتقده عن ذهنك، وما زال يعد علي قدرته التي هي في نفسي التي لا أدفعها حتى ظننت أنه سيظهر فيما بيني وبينه. 
4. Muhammad ibn `Ali Majilwayh  said, on the authority of his paternal uncle Muhammad ibn Abu al-Qasim, on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid, on the authority of Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Kufi, on the authority of `Abd al-Rahman, ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Hashim, on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhsin al-Maythami that I was in the presence of Abu Mansur al-Mutatabbib when he said: One of my companions related to me that: I was sitting in the Sacred Mosque of Mecca with Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ and `Abd Allah ibn alMuqaffa` when Ibn al-Muqaffa`asked pointing at the place of circumambulation [Tawaf], “Do you see these created beings?”. He said: “There is not a single human being among them, except the Shaykh who is sitting over there (meaning Ja`far ibn Muhammad). The rest are nothing but riffraff and beasts.” So Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ answered him, “How is it that you apply the term (human being) to this shaykh and no to the others?” “Because I have seen in him what I do not see in them,” he replied. Thus, Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ enquired, “I must confirm for myself what you have said regarding him.” Then, Ibn al-Muqaffa` replied to him, “Do not even go there! For, verily, I fear that you may destroy what you already have!” He said: “This is not your view. In fact, you fear that I will regard your view as weak once I see the one whom you have praised.” Ibn al-Muqaffa` then replied, “If you suspect this then go to him, to have y our doubts removed. Do not be stubborn. It will protect you from hesitation. Inform him of what may benefit or harm you.” The reporter says that Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ got up and Ibn al-Muqaffa` and I remained. Then he returned to us and said: “O Ibn al-Muqaffa`! He is not a human being, even though he may be a mystic [ruhani] in this world. If he desires, he appears as a body. If he desires, he conceals himself as a spirit. This is what he is.” He asked, “How is that?” He replied, “I sat near him. When there was no one there other than me, he  said to me, “If things are as people claim, and if they believed in what they professed, (referring to the people circumambulating the Ka`bah), then they are safe, and you are destroyed. However, if the matter is the way you all say it, and it certainly is not, then you are both equal.” I asked him, “May Allah have mercy on you! What is it that we say and what is it that they say? My statement and their statement is nothing but the same.” He  responded, “How can your statement and their statement be one when they say that they have a return, reward, and punishment. They affirm that the sky has a Lord and it is inhabited while you claim that the sky is wasteland and there is no one there.” Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ says that I availed the opportunity from him and asked him, What ha stopped Him, if the matter is the way you say it, to appear to His Creation and call them to His service so that any two of them may not differ from each other? Why has He hidden Himself from them, and has sent the Messengers to them? If He had directly come in contact with them, more would believe in Him. Thus, he  replied to me, Woe to you! How is He hidden from you when He showed you His Omnipotence in your own self? He brought you into being when you did not exist. His Omnipotence is shown in your old age after youth, in your strength after weakness, and in your weakness after strength; in your illness after health, and your health after illness; in your pleasure after anger, and your anger after pleasure; in your sadness after happiness, and your happiness after sadness; in liking after disliking, and in disliking after liking; in deciding after refusing, and in refusing after deciding; in kindness after meanness, and in meanness after kindness, in your exhortation after apprehension, and apprehension after exhortation; in your hope after despair, and your despair after hope; in the idea which was not in your imagination, and in the distance between what you believe from your mind. He was still counting to me (the proofs of) His Omnipotence in my own self, which I could not reject, until I started believing that Allah would appear between me and him.