The Sufficient (Vol 1) · Hadith 1211 (#Ḥadīth #32)

32ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الله رَفَعَهُ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله قَالَ إِنَّ أَبَا طَالِبٍ أَسْلَمَ بِحِسَابِ الْجُمَّلِ قَالَ بِكُلِّ لِسَانٍ.

32. Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abdallah and Muhammad ibn Yahya have narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abdallah who in a in a marfu‘ manner has narrated it from Abu ‘Abdallah who has said the following: “Abu Talib acknowledged Islam through the expression of al-Jummal (a system wherein each letter of the alphabet is given a certain numerical and instead of a letter its numeric value is used for secrecy or other reasons.) The Imam said, “He used a universal language.”

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