Chapter Five
Adorning and Playing
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Adorning Children
373. al-Kāfi, narrating from Abu Sabāh who said: “I asked Imām al-Sādiq (a.s.) about ornamenting children with gold and he (a.s.) said: “‘Ali ibn al-Husain [al-Sajjād] (a.s.) would put gold and silver ornaments [jewellery] on his children and women.”1
374. al-Kāfi, narrating from Husain ibn Khālid who said: “When I asked Abu al-Hasan al-Ridā (a.s.) about when to congratulate a child’s birth, he said: ‘When Hasan ibn ‘Ali (a.s.) was born Gabriel descended on the seventh day to congratulate the Prophet (s.a.w.) and ordered him to choose a name and nickname for him, shave his head, sacrifice an offering and make a hole on his ear. The same thing happened when Husain (a.s.) was born, where on the seventh day Gabriel came to the Prophet (s.a.w.) and ordered him to do the same things.” He then said: “They had two ringlets on the left ear. The hole in the right ear was on the earlobe and the hole on the left ear was on the upper part. The right ear had an earring (qurt) and the left ear had an ear ornament (shanf).”2
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Praising the Playfulness of Children
375. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “The child’s playfulness in his childhood causes the increase of his intellect in his adulthood.”3
1.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۴۷۵, h. ۱. Makārim al-Akhlāq, vol. ۱, p. ۱۹۷, h. ۵۸۵, narrating from Dāwud ibn Sarhān, with ‘my father’ instead of ‘‘Ali ibn al-Husain’.
2.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۳۳, h. ۶. Tahdhib al-Ahkām, vol. ۷, p. ۴۴۴, h. ۱۷۷۶, with ‘Abu ‘Abdullah’ instead of ‘Abu al-Hasan al-Ridā’.
3.. Kanz al-‘Ummāl, vol. ۱۱, p. ۹۱, h. ۳۰۷۴۷, narrating from al-Hakim from ‘Amr ibn Ma‘dikub and Abu Musā al-Madini in his Amāli from 'Anas.
