عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنِ ابْنِ رِئَابٍ عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ قَالَ كَانَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ ( عليه السلام ) يَقُولُ مَا بَهِمَتِ الْبَهَائِمُ فَلَمْ تُبْهَمْ عَنْ أَرْبَعَةٍ مَعْرِفَتِهَا بِالرَّبِّ وَ مَعْرِفَتِهَا بِالْمَوْتِ وَ مَعْرِفَتِهَا بِالْأُنْثَى مِنَ الذَّكَرِ وَ مَعْرِفَتِهَا بِالْمَرْعَى عَنِ الْخِصْبِ .
9. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ibn Mahbub from ibn Ri’ab from abu Hamzah who has said the following: “Ali ibn al-Husayn, Alayhim al-Salam, would say, ‘Animals, no matter how unintelligent and dubious they may be, are not so in four issues: One is knowing the Lord, death, male and female, and what is a pasture and what is a barren land.’” 