The Book of Occultation · Hadith 156 (#Ḥadīth #22)

2 - وبه، عن عبد الله بن جبلة، عن علي بن الحارث بن المغيرة، عن أبيه قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله: يكون فترةٌ لا يعرف المسلمون فيها إمامَهم؟ فقال: يقال ذلك. قلت: فكيف نصنع؟ قال: إذا كان ذلك فتمسكوا بالأمر الأول حتى يبين لكم الآخر.

(2) Abdullah bin Jibilla narrated from Ali bin al-Harith bin al-Mugheera that his father had said: I asked Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq : “Will there be a time, in which the Muslims will not know who their imam is?” He said: “It is said so.” I said: “what will we do then?” He said: “If that occurs, then keep to the previous one until the next one becomes clear to you.”

Gradings are classical jarḥ-wa-taʿdīl, name-matched to a rijāl index (not individually re-verified).