عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي نَصْرٍ عَنْ دَاوُدَ بْنِ الْحُصَيْنِ عَنِ الْفَضْلِ أَبِي الْعَبَّاسِ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ( عليه السلام ) قَوْلُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُ ما يَشاءُ مِنْ مَحارِيبَ وَ تَماثِيلَ وَ جِفانٍ كَالْجَوابِ قَالَ مَا هِيَ تَمَاثِيلَ الرِّجَالِ وَ النِّسَاءِ وَ لَكِنَّهَا تَمَاثِيلُ الشَّجَرِ وَ شِبْهِهِ .
3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn abu Nasr from Dawud ibn al- Haseen from al-Fadl abu al-‘Abbas who has said the following: “I once asked abu Ja‘far , about the meaning of the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘They made for him whatever he wanted, such as Salat (prayer) niche, statues, basins like wells. . . .’ (34:13) He (the Imam) said, ‘They were not statues of men and women but they were the figures of trees and similar objects.’” 