Correspondence
Al-Kāfi|Volume 2|Book 4|Chapter 27
1ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَسَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ جَمِيعاً عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَمَّنْ ذَكَرَهُ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ التَّوَاصُلُ بَيْنَ الإخْوَانِ فِي الْحَضَرِ التَّزَاوُرُ وَفِي السَّفَرِ التَّكَاتُبُ.
1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Sahl ibn Ziyad all from ibn Mahbub from those whom he has mentioned (in his book) from Abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام who has said the following: “To maintain contact with friends in the town is by visiting, on a journey and out of town by correspondence.”
- Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (12/577)
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī
2ـ ابْنُ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الله بْنِ سِنَانٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ رَدُّ جَوَابِ الْكِتَابِ وَاجِبٌ كَوُجُوبِ رَدِّ السَّلامِ وَالْبَادِي بِالسَّلامِ أَوْلَى بِالله وَرَسُولِهِ.
2. Ibn Mahbub has narrated from ‘Abd Allah ibn Sinan from Abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام who has said the following: “It is necessary to reply a letter just as it is necessary to answer a greeting of peace. The initiator of a greeting of peace is closer to Allah and His messenger.”
- Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (12/577)
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 171