The Sufficient (Vol 3) · Hadith 879 (#Ḥadīth #3)

3ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ عَمَّارٍ عَنْ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ الأوَّلِ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) قَالَ سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الْمَيِّتِ يَزُورُ أَهْلَهُ قَالَ نَعَمْ فَقُلْتُ فِي كَمْ يَزُورُ قَالَ فِي الْجُمْعَةِ وَفِي الشَّهْرِ وَفِي السَّنَةِ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَنْزِلَتِهِ فَقُلْتُ فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ يَأْتِيهِمْ قَالَ فِي صُورَةِ طَائِرٍ لَطِيفٍ يَسْقُطُ عَلَى جُدُرِهِمْ وَيُشْرِفُ عَلَيْهِمْ فَإِنْ رَآهُمْ بِخَيْرٍ فَرِحَ وَإِنْ رَآهُمْ بِشَرٍّ وَحَاجَةٍ حَزِنَ وَاغْتَمَّ.

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ibn Mahbub from Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar who has said the following: “I (the narrator) asked abu al-Hassan al-Awwal , about a deceased person’s visiting his family. He replied, ‘Yes, (this is a fact).’ I then asked, ‘How often do such visits take place?’ He replied, ‘In a Friday (week), in a month and in a year, depending upon his status.’ I then asked, ‘In what form does he visit his family?’ He replied, ‘He visits them in the form of a fine bird. He drops on their walls and oversees them. If he finds them in good deeds, he becomes happy, and if he finds them in evil deeds or in need, he becomes depressed and sorrowful.’”

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