Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Ishaq narrated to us. He said: Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Hamadani narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Salih b. Sa`d al-Tamimi narrated to us from his father. He said: Ahmad b. Hisham narrated to us. He said: Mansur b. Mujahid narrated to us from al-Rabi` b. Badr from Sawar b. Munib from Wahb from Ibn `Abbas. He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: For Allah there is an angel named Sakha'il who brings a script from the Lord of the Worlds at every time of prayer to those who pray. When the believers awake, perform ablution, and pray Fajr, he gives them a script from Allah. It is written therein: "I am Allah the Everlasting. My male and female servants: you are in My hedge that I have made for you, and in My protection. You are under My care. By My glory, I will not let you down. Your sins up until Thuhr are forgiven." When Thuhr time comes, and they stand up, perform ablution, and pray, he brings a second script from Allah to them. It is written therein: "I am Allah the Powerful. My male and female servants: your sins have been changed into good deeds and your offenses have been forgiven. I have sweetened you with My being pleased with you in the abode of majesty." When `Asr time comes, and they stand up, perform ablution, and pray, he brings a third script from Allah to them. It is written therein: "I am Allah the Majestic. My remembrance is majestic, and My power is great. My male and female servants: I have forbidden your bodies from the Fire, I have settled you into goodly residences, and I have repelled the evil of the evildoers from you by My mercy." When Maghrib time comes, and they stand up, perform ablution, and pray, he brings a fourth script from Allah to them. It is written therein: "I am Allah the Mighty, the Grand, the Highly. My male and female servants: My angels are pleased after having ascended from you. It is a right upon Me to please you and to give you what you wish on the Day of Resurrection." When `Isha' time comes, and they stand up, perform ablution, and pray, he brings a fifth script from Allah to them. It is written therein: "Surely, I, I am Allah, there is no god besides Me, nor is there a lord like Me. My male and female servants: You have purified yourselves in your homes, you have walked to My homes, you have shivered in My remembrance, you have recognized My right, and you have fulfilled My obligations. Bear witness, O Sakha'il and the rest of My angels, that I am pleased with them." He said: So, Sakha'il calls three times every night after `Isha': "O angels of Allah! Allah has forgiven the monotheists who pray." So, there does not remain an angel in the seven heavens except that it seeks repentance on behalf of those who pray and prays that they maintain that effort. Whichever male or female servant is granted [an opportunity to pray] a night prayer, standing purified before Allah, washing thoroughly in ablution, praying for Allah with an honest intention, a peaceable heart, a body in awe, and a tearful eye, Allah will put nine rows of angels behind him - the number in each row is not known to anyone except Allah - one end of the row will be in the East, and the other in the West. He said: Once he finishes, he will be given ranks by their number. Mansur said: Whenever Rabi` b. Badr would narrate this hadith, he would say: "Where are you, O heedless one, in relation to this honour? Where are you in relation to standing in prayer tonight; and in relation to obtaining these rewards and this honour?"

Al-Husayn b. Ibrahim narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim narrated to us from his father Ibrahim b. Hashim from Abi’l Salt al-Harawi. He said: Al-Ma’mun said to al-Rida : O son of the Messenger of Allah! I have recognized your virtue, your knowledge, your asceticism, your piety, and your worship, and I see that you are more rightful to the caliphate than myself. So, al-Rida said: Through my servitude to Allah, I become proud; and through my asceticism of this world, I hope to be delivered from the evil of this world; and through my piety in [abstinence of] the forbidden, I hope to win the spoils; and through my humility in this world, I hope to be elevated in the sight of Allah. So, al-Ma’mun said to him: Surely, I see that I should abdicate myself from the caliphate, give it to you, and pledge allegiance to you. So, al-Rida said to him: If the caliphate were yours, and Allah made it for you, then you would not be able to remove that which Allah has dressed you with and give it to someone else. If the caliphate were not yours, you would not be able to give me that which does not belong to you. So, al-Ma’mun said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! You must accept this affair. So, he said: I will never do that willingly. He did not stop demanding this daily until he gave up on having him accept it. So, he said to him: If you will not accept the caliphate, and you would not like me to pledge allegiance to you, then be my crown prince, so that you may have the caliphate after me. So, al-Rida said: By Allah, my father narrated to me from his forefathers from Amir al-Mu’minin from the Messenger of Allah (s) that I will leave this world before you, having been killed with poison and oppressed. The angels of the heavens and the angels of the Earth will weep for me, and I will be buried in an isolated land beside Harun al-Rashid. So, al-Ma’mun wept, then he said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Who will kill you or want to harm you whilst I am alive? So, al-Rida said: If I wanted to tell you who will kill me, I would have said it. So, al-Ma’mun said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! You only want to lighten matters for yourself with these words and repel this affair from yourself, so that the people may say: “You are ascetic in this world.” So, al-Rida said: By Allah, I have never lied since my Lord created me, nor have I ever been ascetic of this world for this world. Surely, I know what you want. So, al-Ma’mun said: What do I want? He said: Will you grant immunity for an honest answer? He said: You are immune. He said: With this, you want the people to say: “Surely, `Ali b. Musa did not abstain from this world, but rather this world abstained from him – do you not see how he accepted the position of crown prince out of desire for the caliphate?” So, al-Ma’mun became angry, then said: Surely, you always treat me in a way that I hate, as though you are immune from me. I swear by Allah, you must accept the position of crown prince, or I will force you to do so. If you do not do so, I will strike your neck. So, al-Rida said: Allah has prohibited me from tossing my hand into peril, so if this is the condition, then do as you wish, and I will accept, so long that I do not appoint anyone or dismiss anyone, nor change any practices or traditions; and that I am just a distant advisor. So, he accepted that, and he made him his crown prince despite his dislike of that.