 ٧٨ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ سَيْفٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ حُرَيْثٍ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) عَنْ قَوْلِ الله كَشَجَرَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُها ثابِتٌ وَفَرْعُها فِي السَّماءِ قَالَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ الله (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) أَصْلُهَا وَأَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) فَرْعُهَا وَالائِمَّةُ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا أَغْصَانُهَا وَعِلْمُ الائِمَّةِ ثَمَرَتُهَا وَشِيعَتُهُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَرَقُهَا هَلْ فِيهَا فَضْلٌ قَالَ قُلْتُ لا وَالله قَالَ وَالله إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ لَيُولَدُ فَتُورَقُ وَرَقَةٌ فِيهَا وَإِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ لَيَمُوتُ فَتَسْقُطُ وَرَقَةٌ مِنْهَا.
 78. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Sayf from his father from ‘Amr ibn Harith who has said the following. “I asked abu ‘Abdallah  about the words of Allah. “. . a blessed tree which has firm roots and branches rising up into the sky.” (14:24) The Imam  said that the The Holy Prophet (s.a) said, “The root is Amir al-Mu’minin Ali  and the branches are the Imams from their (Amir al-Mu’minin  and The Holy Prophet (s.a) descendants and the knowledge of Imams stand for the fruits. Their faithful followers represent the leaves of such tree.” The Imam  asked, “Is there anything else in the tree?” I said, “No, there is nothing else there. The Imam  then said, “By Allah, when a faithful is given a child a leave grows in the tree and when a faithful dies a leave falls off the tree.”