The Sufficient (Vol 1) · Hadith 962 (#Ḥadīth #7)
Chapter 85 | The case of those who would claim to be the Imam but is not qualified, the case of those who would reject all or some of the Imams and the case of those who argue in support of one who is not a qualified Imam.
7ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ عَنْ مَنْصُورِ بْنِ يُونُسَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لابِي عَبْدِ الله رَجُلٌ قَالَ لِيَ اعْرِفِ الاخِرَ مِنَ الائِمَّةِ وَلا يَضُرُّكَ أَنْ لا تَعْرِفَ الاوَّلَ قَالَ فَقَالَ لَعَنَ الله هَذَا فَإِنِّي أُبْغِضُهُ وَلا أَعْرِفُهُ وَهَلْ عُرِفَ الاخِرُ إِلا بِالاوَّلِ.
7. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn ’Isma‘il from Mansur ibn Yunus from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following. “I said to abu ‘Abdallah , “A man said to me, “You must know the last of the Imams and it does not matter if you would not know the first of the Imams.” The narrator has said that the Imam said, “May Allah condemn this. I am angry with him and I do not know him. How can the last Imam be recognized except through the first Imam?”
Gradings are classical jarḥ-wa-taʿdīl, name-matched to a rijāl index (not individually re-verified).