It is thus clear that he narrated ahadith directly from two Imams...

It is thus clear that he narrated ahadith directly from two Imams, and was a companion of four Imams (peace be upon them). His father had narrated ahadith from the seventh Imam (A.S.).[^7] Al-Fadl once said, "I am the successor of those who have passed away.

I met (and received a(u1dith and knowledge) from Muhammad ibn Abi 'Umayr, Safwan ibn Yahya and others, and have preserved their legacy since last fifty years; when Hisham ibn al-Hakam (may Allah have mercy on him) passed away, Yunus ibn 'Abdu 'r-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him) carried his torch and used to reply [our] adversaries; then Yunus ibn 'Abdu 'r-Rahman died and left no one in his place except as-Sakkak, and he rebutted the adversaries' [arguments], until he too passed away (may Allah have mercy on him), and now I am their successor after them, may Allah have mercy on them."[^8] In his last days, al-Fadl ibn Shadhan was at Bayhaq (a town in Khurasan) when news came that the Kharijites were proceeding towards that town.

He fled from Bayhaq; but faced so many difficulties in the journey that he became seriously ill and died of the same illness.[^9] His death occurred in 260, the same year when Imam Hasan al-'Askari (peace be upon him) was martyred. Booraq, "a man among our companions well-known for his truthfulness, righteousness, piety and goodness", went for hajj when al-Fadl was seriously ill. On his return journey, he went to Samarra' to pay his respects to the eleventh Imam (A.S.).

During the visit he said to the Imam (A.S.): "Al-Fadl ibn Shadhan is seriously ill. Some people say that it has happened because you are annoyed with him, as they reportedly had told you that al-Fadl had said that the successor of Ibrahim was better than the successor of Muhammad (S.A.W.). But he had not said anything like this, may I be your ransom! They had told a lie against him." The Imam (A.S.) said, "Yes, they had told a lie against him. May Allah have mercy on al-Fadl!

May Allah have mercy on al-Fadl." When Booraq returned, he found that al-Fadl had died in the same days when the Imam (A.S.) had said "May Allah have mercy on al-Fadl."[^10] As all reports agree that al-Fadl died in 260, obviously Booraq had gone for hajj in 259. After completing the rituals of hajj and ziyarat, he went to Iraq, and must have reached Samarra' in the first 10 or 15 days of Muharram in 260, when the above mentioned conversation took place.

It means that al-Fadl had died in early Muharram 260, i.e.