The Sufficient (Vol 6) · Hadith 1204 (#Ḥadīth #3)
Chapter 57 | The Excellence of the Meat of Sheep Over Goats
بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْحَضْرَمِيِّ عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي الْحَسَنِ الرِّضَا ( عليه السلام ) إِنَّ أَهْلَ بَيْتِي يَأْكُلُونَ لَحْمَ الْمَاعِزِ وَ لَا يَأْكُلُونَ لَحْمَ الضَّأْنِ قَالَ وَ لِمَ قُلْتُ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّهُ لَحْمٌ يُهَيِّجُ الْمِرَارَ فَقَالَ ( عليه السلام ) لَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ خَيْراً مِنَ الضَّأْنِ لَفَدَى بِهِ يَعْنِي إِسْحَاقَ . هَكَذَا جَاءَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ .
3. Certain persons of our people have narrated from Ja‘far ibn Ibrahim al-Hadramiy from Sa‘d ibn Sa‘d who has said the following: “I once said to abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ , ‘My family eats the meat of goats but not that of sheep.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Why they do so?’ I replied, ‘They say that it excites bitterness (stomach acid).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Had Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, known anything better than sheep He would have presented it as ransom for Ishaq.’” This is how it has come in Hadith.
Gradings are classical jarḥ-wa-taʿdīl, name-matched to a rijāl index (not individually re-verified).