Ali ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn al-Hassan have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr from Safwan ibn Yahya who has said that he heard abu Ja'far (a.s.) say the
following. "Would we not receive (new knowledge) we would diminish (in knowledge)."
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Khalid from Safwan from abu a1-Hassan (a.s.) a similar Hadith.
H 656, Ch. 43, h 2
Muhammad ibn Yabya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa'id from an-Nadr ibn Suwayd from Yahya al-Halabi from Dharih al-Muharibi who has said that abu 'Abdallah (a.s.)
has said to him the following. "O Dharih, "Would we not receive (new knowledge) we will diminish (in knowledge)."said:
H 657, Ch. 43, h 3
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from abu Nasr from Tha'labah from Zurarah who has said that he heard abu Ja'far (a.s.) say the following.
"Would we not receive additional (knowledge) we would diminish (in knowledge)." The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.) "Do receive additional something that the Messenger of
Allah does not know?" The Imam (a.s.) said, "The fact of the matter is that when that happens, it is presented to the Messenger of Allah then to the Imams and then it reaches us."
H 658, Ch. 43, h 4
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn 'Isa from Yunus ibn 'Abd al-Rahman from some of his people from abu 'Abdallah (a.s.) who has said the following. "Nothing comes from Allah,
the Most Holy, the Most High, except that first it begins with the Messenger of Allah then Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (a.s.) then the Imams one after the other so that the last us would not be more
knowledgeable than the first of us."