وقد روى محمد بن عبد الله بن جعفر الحميري عن أبيه عن محمد بن صالح الهمداني قال...
ثم قال: قال عبد الله بن جعفر: وحدثني بهذا الحديث علي بن محمد الكليني عن محمد بن صالح، عن صاحب الزمان (ع). أقول: ثم ذكر الشيخ بعض أصحاب الائمة صلوات الله عليهم الممدوحين ثم قال: فأما السفراء الممدوحون في زمان الغيبة فأولهم من نصبه أبو الحسن علي ابن محمد العسكري وأبو محمد الحسن بن علي بن محمد ابنه (ع) وهو الشيخ الموثوق به أبو عمرو عثمان بن سعيد العمري وكان أسديا وإنما سمي العمري لما رواه أبو نصر هبة الله بن محمد بن أحمد الكاتب بن بنت أبي جعفر العمري (ره).
A group of the Shī‘a has said, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan Ibn ‘Ali (a.s) said, “The names Ibn ‘Othmān and Abu ‘Amr shall not gather in one man,” and ordered him to break his patronym, so he was called al-‘Amri. He is also called al-‘Askari, because he was from the ‘Askar of Surra Man Ra’ā. He is also called al-Sammān, because he used to trade grease in order to conceal his task.
When the Shī‘a carried their religious dues to Abu Muhammad (a.s), they would send it to Abu ‘Amr, which he would place in containers that were used for grease and carry them to Abu Muhammad (a.s) because of taqiyya and fear. A group of scholars narrated to me from Abu Muhammad Hārūn Ibn Musā from Abu ‘Ali Muhammad Ibn Himām al-Iskāfi, who said Ahmad Ibn Ishāq Ibn Sa‘d al-Qummi narrated to us, saying, I entered on a certain day upon Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Muhammad, peace be with him (a.s).
I said, “O’ my master, many a time, I go away and then come to your vicinity, yet I am still not able to find access to you every time I come nearby. So whose word should we accept and whose order should we obey?” The Imam (a.s) said, “This is Abu ‘Amr. He is trustworthy and honest. He is the trustworthy man of the past and my man of trust in my lifetime and after my death.
Whatever he says to you, he says it from us; whatever he delivers to you, he does so from me.” Abu Muhammad Hārun said, Abu ‘Ali said, Abu al-‘Abbas al-Humyari said, We would often discuss this narration and extol the eminence of Abu ‘Amr.