16. al-Kāfi, narrating from Bakr ibn Sālih who wrote to Abu al-Hasan [al-Kāzim] (a.s.): “I have been avoiding having a child for five years, and it’s because my wife does not like it and she says that it will be difficult to raise them due to lack of wealth. What is your opinion?” He wrote back: “Seek in having a child, for Allah will provide their sustenance.”1
17. Imām al-Ridā2 (a.s.) said: “Indeed if Allah the Exalted wishes good for a servant, He will not cause him to die until He shows him an offspring.”3
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The Virtue of a Righteous Child
18. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “Among the happiness of a man is to have a righteous child.”4
19. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “A righteous child is indeed a flower from the flowers of Paradise.”5
20. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “A righteous child is a flower that Allah has distributed among His creation, and verily my two flowers in this world are Hasan and Husain. I named them from the names of two children of Bani Isrāil, Shubbar and Shubair.”67
21. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “From the blessings of Allah upon a man is that his child looks like him.”8
22. al-Kāfi, narrating from Muhammad ibn Sanān, from someone who narrated to him that when: ‘Ali ibn al-Husain [al-Sajjād] (a.s.) was given glad tidings about [the birth of] a child, he did not ask whether it was a boy or a girl rather he would ask: “Is it healthy?” If it was healthy, he would say: “Praise be only to Allah who did not create anything unhealthy from me.”9
1.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۳, h. ۷. Makārim al-Akhlāq, vol. ۱, p. ۴۸۰, h. ۱۶۶۴.
2.. In Kitāb Man lā Yahdarhu al-Faqih this tradition is recorded from Abu al-Hasan (a.s.) with no mentioning of another name, but in Makārim al-Akhlāq it mentions the same tradition and ascribes it to Imām al-Ridā (a.s.).
3.. Kitāb Man lā Yahdarhu al-Faqih, vol. ۳, p. ۴۸۱, h. ۴۶۹۰. Makārim al-Akhlāq, vol. ۱, p. ۴۷۲, h. ۱۶۱۵.
4.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۳, h. ۱۱, narrating from al-Sakuni from Imām al-Sādiq (a.s.), and h. ۶. ‘Uddah al-Dā‘i, p. ۷۶.
5.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۳, h. ۱۰, narrating from al-Sakuni from Imām al-Sādiq (a.s.). Kitāb Man lā Yahdarhu al-Faqih, vol. ۳, p. ۴۸۱, h. ۴۶۸۸.
6.. Shabbar and Shabir are the names of Aaron’s children and they were two names which Gabriel brought for the Prophet of Allah, and their Arabic equivalent is Hasan and Husain. Tārikh Dimashq, vol. ۱۴, p. ۱۱۹, h. ۴۳۱۳. Kashf al-Ghummah, vol.۲, p. ۱۵۱.
7.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۲, h. ۱, narrating from al-Sakuni from Imām al-Sādiq (a.s.).
8.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۴, h. ۱, narrating from al-Sakuni from Imām al-Sādiq (a.s.). Kitāb Man lā Yahdarhu al-Faqih, vol. ۳, p. ۴۸۴, h. ۴۷۰۸. Makārim al-Akhlāq, vol. ۱, p. ۴۷۷, h. ۱۶۴۵.
9.. al-Kāfi, vol. ۶, p. ۲۱, h. ۱. Tahdhib al-Ahkām, vol. ۷, p. ۴۳۹, h. ۱۷۵۴.
