Hadith

 أَبِي رَحِمَهُ اَللَّهُ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سَعْدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ وَ عَبْدُ اَللَّهِ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ اَلْحِمْيَرِيُّ جَمِيعاً عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ اَلْحَسَنِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ ع قَالَ : إِنَّ شِيعَةَ عَلِيٍّ صَلَوَاتُ اَللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ كَانُوا خُمْصَ اَلْبُطُونِ ذُبُلَ اَلشِّفَاهِ وَ أَهْلَ رَأْفَةٍ وَ عِلْمٍ وَ حِلْمٍ يُعْرَفُونَ بِالرَّهْبَانِيَّةِ فَأَعِينُوا عَلَى مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ بِالْوَرَعِ وَ اَلاِجْتِهَادِ.

 My father, Allah may have mercy upon him, narrated to us from Sa’d bin Abdullah and Abdullah bin Ja’far al-Himyari from Ahmed bin Mohammed bin al-Hasan… that Abu Abdullah (a) said: The Shia of Ali are atrophied-stomached, dry-lipped, and people of compassion, knowledge, and clemency. Their distinctive feature is reverence. Help the beliefs that you embrace by means of piety and diligence.

Ṣifāt al-Shīʿa

Book 1, Chapter 18