أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله، قال: حدثنا أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى، عن الحسين بن سعيد، عن فضالة بن أيوب، عن أبان بن عثمان، عن محمد بن مسلم، قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: إن لله عز وجل خلقا خلقهم من نوره، ورحمة من رحمته لرحمته، فهم عين الله الناظرة، وأذنه السامعة، ولسانه الناطق في خلقه باذنه، وامناؤه على ما أنزل من عذر أو نذر أو حجة، فبهم يمحو الله السيئات، وبهم يدفع الضيم ، وبهم ينزل الرحمة، وبهم يحيي ميتا ويميت حيا، وبهم يبتلي خلقه، وبهم يقضي في خلقه قضية. قلت: جعلت فداك من هؤلاء؟ قال: الأوصياء.
10.	My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin Muhammed ibn ‘Isa, from Hussain bin Sa’eed, from Fadala bin Ayub, from Aban bin Uthman, from Muhammed bin Muslim, that he said: I heard Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, say: Indeed, to Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, there are creations which He created from His Light, and a mercy from His mercy to His mercy; they are the observing Eye of Allah, and His hearing Ear, and his Tongue that speaks with his creation by His permission, and His Guardians upon what He has sent down of Justification, Warning or Proof. Hence, by them Allah erases misdeeds, and by them He repels grievance, and by them He sends down mercy, and by them He brings life into a dead and makes dead a living, and by them He tests His creation, and by them He decides in His creation His decision. I said: May I be sacrificed for you, who are these? He said: The Successors.