٩٧- وبهذا الإسناد عن محمد بن عثمان قال: حدثنا عبد الله بن جعفر الرقي قال:حدثنا عيسى بن يونس عن مجالد بن سعيد عن الشعبي عن مسروق قال: كنا عند ابن مسعود فقال له رجل: حدثكم نبيكم كم يكون بعده من الخلفاء؟ فقال: نعم. وما سألني عنها أحد قبلك وإنك لأحدث القوم سنا. سمعته يقول: يكون بعدي عدة نقباء موسى عليه السلام. قال الله عز وجل ﴿وبَعَثْنا مِنْهُمُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيباً﴾.
H 97 - It is narrated from the same chains of narrators from Muhammad bin Uthman that: Narrated to us Abdullah bin Ja’far Raqqi that: Narrated to us Isa bin Yunus from Majalid bin Saeed from Shobi from Masruq [bin Ajda bin Malik Hamadani, died 63 A.H.] that: I was with Ibn Masud when a person asked him: Did your Prophet inform you how many his successors would be? Ibn Masud said: Yes, in spite of the fact that you are the youngest, no one other than you asked me this question. I always heard the Messenger of Allah (s) say: After me there will be Caliphs equal to the number of the chiefs of Musa . Allah, the Mighty and the High said: “…and We raised up among them twelve chieftains…”