Would the Imams 
not receive new knowledge their previous know would be Exhausted
4 Aḥadīth
Ali ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn al-Hassan have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr from Safwan ibn Yahya who has said that he heard abu Ja‘far say the following. “Would we not receive (new knowledge) we would diminish (in knowledge).” Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Khalid from Safwan from abu a-Hassan a similar Hadith.
عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي نَصْرٍ عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ يَحْيَى قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ يَقُولُ كَانَ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ (عَلَيْهما السَّلام) يَقُولُ لَوْ لا أَنَّا نَزْدَادُ لانْفَدْنَا. مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ صَفْوَانَ عَنْ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ مِثْلَهُ.
Muhammad ibn Yabya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from an-Nadr ibn Suwayd from Yahya al-Halabi from Dharih al-Muharibi who has said that abu ‘Abdallah has said to him the following. “O Dharih, “Would we not receive (new knowledge) we will diminish (in knowledge).”said:
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنِ النَّضْرِ بْنِ سُوَيْدٍ عَنْ يَحْيَى الْحَلَبِيِّ عَنْ ذَرِيحٍ الْمُحَارِبِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ لِي أَبُو عَبْدِ الله يَا ذَرِيحُ لَوْ لا أَنَّا نَزْدَادُ لانْفَدْنَا.
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from abu Nasr from Tha‘labah from Zurarah who has said that he heard abu Ja‘far say the following. “Would we not receive additional (knowledge) we would diminish (in knowledge).” The narrator has said that he asked the Imams “Do receive additional something that the Messenger of Allah does not know?” The Imam said, “The fact of the matter is that when that happens, it is presented to the Messenger of Allah then to the Imams and then it reaches us.”
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي نَصْرٍ عَنْ ثَعْلَبَةَ عَنْ زُرَارَةَ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ يَقُولُ لَوْ لا أَنَّا نَزْدَادُ لانْفَدْنَا قَالَ قُلْتُ تَزْدَادُونَ شَيْئاً لا يَعْلَمُهُ رَسُولُ الله ﷺ قَالَ أَمَا إِنَّهُ إِذَا كَانَ ذَلِكَ عُرِضَ عَلَى رَسُولِ الله ﷺ ثُمَّ عَلَى الائِمَّةِ ثُمَّ انْتَهَى الامْرُ إِلَيْنَا.
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman from some of his people from abu ‘Abdallah who has said the following. “Nothing comes from Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, except that first it begins with the Messenger of Allah then Amir al-Mu’minin Ali then the Imams one after the other so that the last us would not be more knowledgeable than the first of us.”
عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِهِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله قَالَ لَيْسَ يَخْرُجُ شَيْءٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَتَّى يَبْدَأَ بِرَسُولِ الله ﷺ ثُمَّ بِأَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ثُمَّ بِوَاحِدٍ بَعْدَ وَاحِدٍ لِكَيْلا يَكُونَ آخِرُنَا أَعْلَمَ مِنْ أَوَّلِنَا.