The Sufficient (Vol 6) · Hadith 2481 (#Ḥadīth #1)

عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عُذَافِرٍ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ( عليه السلام ) عَنِ الطَّيْرِ يُرْسَلُ مِنَ الْبَلَدِ الْبَعِيدِ الَّذِي لَمْ يَرَهُ قَطُّ فَيَأْتِي فَقَالَ يَا ابْنَ عُذَافِرٍ هُوَ يَأْتِي مَنْزِلَ صَاحِبِهِ مِنْ ثَلَاثِينَ فَرْسَخاً عَلَى مَعْرِفَتِهِ وَ حَسَبِهِ فَإِذَا زَادَتْ عَلَى ثَلَاثِينَ فَرْسَخاً جَاءَتْ إِلَى أَرْبَابِهَا بِأَرْزَاقِهَا .

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Muhammad ibn ’Isma‘il from Muhammad ibn ‘ Adhafir who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘ Abd Allah , about the case of a bird which is set free in a faraway area and the bird has never seen it but it comes back. He (the Imam) said, ‘O ibn ‘Udha’fir, birds can come to the house of its owner from a distance of thirty farsakh (90 miles) because of its knowledge and environment, but if it is more than thirty farsakh then the bird comes for the sustenance which is determined for it.’”

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