١٨ - حَدَّثَنا أَبي رَضِىَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا سَعْدِ بْنِعَبْدِ اللَّه قالَ: حَدَّثَنا أَحْمَدِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ أَحْمَدِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبي نَصْرِ البِزَنْطِيِّ قالَ كُنْتُ شَاكّاً فِي أَبِي الْحَسَنِ الرِّضَا صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلامُهُ عَلَيْهِ فَكَتَبْتُ إِلَيْهِ كِتَاباً أَسْأَلُهُ فِيهِ الإِذْنَ عَلَيْهِ وَقَدْ أَضْمَرْتُ فِي نَفْسِي أَنْ أَسْأَلَهُ إِذَا دَخَلْتُ عَلَيْهِ عَنْ ثَلاثِ آيَاتٍ قَدْ عَقَدْتُ قَلْبِي عَلَيْهَا قَالَ فَأَتَانِي جَوَابُ مَا كَتَبْتُ بِهِ إِلَيْهِ عَافَانَا اللَّهُ وَإِيَّاكَ أَمَّا مَا طَلَبْتَ مِنَ الإِذْنِ عَلَيَّ فَإِنَّ الدُّخُولَ عَلَيَّ صَعْبٌ وَهَؤُلاءِ قَدْ ضَيَّقُوا عَلَيَّ ذَلِكَ فَلَسْتَ تَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ الآْنَ وَسَيَكُونُ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَكَتَبَ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ بِجَوَابِ مَا أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَسْأَلَهُ عَنِ الآْيَاتِ الثَّـلاثِ فِي الْكِتَـابِوَلا وَاللَّهِ مَا ذَكَرْتُ لَهُ مِنْهُنَّ شَيْئاً وَلَقَدْ بَقِيتُ مُتَعَجِّباً لَمَّا ذَكَرَ مَا فِي الْكِتَابِ وَلَمْ أَدْرِ أَنَّهُ جَوَابِي إِلا بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَوَقَفْتُ عَلَى مَعْنَى مَا كَتَبَ بِهِ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ
47-18 (The author of the book narrated) my father - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Sa’d ibn Abdullah quoted on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa, on the authority of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Nasr al-Bezanti, “I was in doubt about Abil Hassan Ar-Ridha’ . I wrote him a letter seeking permission to visit him. I wanted to ask him about three Qur’anic verses. I had set my mind on that. The reply came as such, ‘May God grant you and us health. You have asked permission to visit me. This is hard to do these days, since they have placed strict control over the people coming to visit me. It is a cause of hardship. You cannot get such a permission now. God willing these restrictions will be removed later and I will grant you permission to visit me.’ Then the answer to the questions which I had intended to askthe Imam  concerning the three Qur’anic verses was written. I swear by God that I had made no mention of them in my letter. I was really amazed about the material about the verses. Later I realized that what the Imam  had written in reply to me meant to inform me of the Divine status of the Imam .”