Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Ishaq narrated to us. He said: Abu Ja`far Ahmad b. Ishaq b. Bahlul al-Qadi narrated to us in the City of Peace. He said: My father narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Yazid al-Sada’i from Abi Shayba al-Jawhari from Anas b. Malik. He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: Promise me six things, and I will promise you Paradise: (1) When you speak, do not lie. (2) If you make a promise, do not break it. (3) If you form a trust, then do not betray it. (4) Lower your gaze. (5) Guard your private parts. (6) Withhold your hands and your tongues [from harming others].

Ahmad b. Ziyad narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim b. Hashim narrated to us. He said: al-Qasim b. Muhammad al-Barmaki narrated to us. He said: Abu’l Salt al-Harawi narrated to us. He said: When al-Ma’mun gathered the rhetoricians of Islam and other religions for `Ali b. Musa al-Rida , including from among the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sabeans, and others, no one stood except that he provided his proof to him as though pelting a stone. So, `Ali b. Muhammad b. al-Jahm went to him and said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Do you claim that the prophets were immaculate? He said: Of course. He said: So, what do you saying regarding His saying, “And Adam disobeyed his Lord and strayed.” (20:121) and His saying, “And the man of the whale, when he went off angrily, thinking that We could not restrict him.” (21:87), and His saying regarding Yusuf, “She desired him, and he [would have] desired her” (12:24), and His saying regarding Dawud, “Then, Dawud realized that We had tried him.” (38:24), and His saying to His prophet, Muhammad (s), “You hid in yourself that which Allah is to disclose. You fear the people when Allah has more of a right to be feared.” (33:37) So, our master al-Rida said: Woe to you, O `Ali, fear Allah, do not attribute immorality to the prophets of Allah, and do not interpret the Book of Allah by your own opinion, for Allah says, “No one knows its interpretation except Allah and those delved in knowledge” (3:7). As for His saying regarding Adam , “And Adam disobeyed his Lord and strayed.” (20:121) – Allah created Adam to be a Proof on His Earth and a vicegerent in His land. He did not create him for Paradise, and Adam’s disobedience was in Paradise, not on Earth, where he would fulfill the order of Allah. When he fell to the Earth and was made a Proof and a vicegerent, he became immaculate, as He says, “Surely, Allah chose Adam, Nuh, the Family of Ibrahim, and the Family of `Imran over the worlds.” (3:33) As for His saying, “And the man of the whale, when he went off angrily, thinking that We could not restrict him.” (21:87) – he thought that Allah would not restrict his sustenance. Did you not hear the saying of Allah, “But when He tries him by straitening his sustenance” (89:16) – meaning, restrict it for him. If he thought that Allah was unable to straiten it for him, he would have disbelieved. As for His saying regarding Yusuf, “She desired him, and he [would have] desired her” (12:24) She was tempted to sin, and Yusuf was tempted to kill her. He informed her of the seriousness of what she was getting into, so Allah averted the temptation to kill her and to commit obscenity. And that is His saying: “And thus it was that We avert evil and obscenity from him.” (12:24) – meaning, killing and fornication.” As for Dawud, what do your people say about him? So, `Ali b. al-Jahm said: They say that Dawud was praying in his niche when Iblis came to him in the form of a bird that was more beautiful than any other bird. So, he cut his prayer short and went to take the bird. Then, the bird went to the room and he followed it. Then, the bird flew to the roof and he climbed in pursuit of it. Then, the bird landed on the house of Uriah b. Hannan, and Dawud followed the bird. Then, he came across the wife of Uriah bathing. When he looked to her, he desired her; and Uriah was away fighting in one of his battles. So, he wrote to his commander: “Put Uriah on the frontlines.” So, Uriah annihilated the pagans, and thus the matter became more complicated for Dawud. So, he wrote to him a second time, saying: “Put him before his coffin (send him so far ahead that he would surely die).” So, Uriah was killed, and Dawud married his wife. He said: So, al-Rida hit himself on the forehead and said: To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return. You have accused a prophet from the prophets of Allah of cutting his prayer short so that he may follow a bird, and of an obscenity, and of murder! So, he said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Then what was his mistake? So, he said: Woe to you! Surely, when Dawud thought that Allah had not created a creature more knowledgeable than him, Allah sent two angels to his niche, saying: “We are two in a dispute: one of us has wronged the other. So, judge between us with truth, do not go beyond it, and guide us to the right path. This is my brother, and he has ninety-nine sheep while I only have one. Still, he asked me to give it up to him, overwhelming me with his argument.” (38:22-23). So, Dawud ruled, “He has wronged you in demanding that your sheep be added to his sheep” (38:24) without asking the man to prove this, nor asking the defendant “what do you say?” So, this was a lapse in his judgment and not [to the extreme] that you have gone to. Have you not heard the saying of Allah, “O Dawud! Surely, We have made you a vicegerent on the Earth, so judge between the people in truth” (38:28) till the end of the verse? So, I said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Then what was his story with Uriah? So, al-Rida said: In the days of Dawud, if a woman’s husband died or was killed, she would not ever remarry. The first person whom Allah allowed to marry a woman after her husband was killed was Dawud . This was difficult on the people of Uriah. As for Muhammad, His Prophet (s), and the saying of Allah, “You hid in yourself that which Allah is to disclose. You fear the people when Allah has more of a right to be feared.” (33:37) – Allah had informed His Prophet (s) of the names of his wives in the abode of this world, the names of his wives in the abode of the Hereafter, and that they were the Mothers of the Believers. One was named Zaynab bt. Jahsh, who at the time was under Zayd b. Haritha. So, he (s) hid her name to himself and did not present it, lest one of the hypocrites say: “He has claimed that a woman in a man’s house is one of his wives and a Mother of the Believers.” So, he feared the saying of the hypocrites, and Allah said, “Allah has more of a right to be feared” (33:37) in yourself. Surely, Allah had not ordered the marriage of someone prior to that, except when Hawwa’ married Adam – then, His order for the Messenger of Allah (s) to marry Zaynab and `Ali to marry Fatima . He said: So, `Ali b. al-Jahm wept and said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! I repent to Allah for saying what I have said regarding the prophets of Allah. After this day, I will only speak regarding that which you have mentioned.

Muhammad b. Ibrahim narrated to us. He said: Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Hamadani narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. al-Hasan b. `Ali b. Faddal narrated to us from his father from Abi’l Hasan `Ali b. Musa al-Rida from his father Musa b. Ja`far from his father al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father al-Baqir Muhammad b. `Ali from his father Zayn al-`Abidin `Ali b. al-Husayn from his father the Master of Martyrs al-Husayn b. `Ali from his father the Master of Deputies Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali b. Abi Talib . He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) delivered a sermon to us one day and said: O people! The month of Allah has come to you in blessing, mercy, and forgiveness. It is a month that is considered by Allah to be the best of months. Its days are the best of days, its nights are the best of nights, and its hours are the best of hours. It is a month in which you were invited to be the guests of Allah, thus you became the people of Allah’s benevolence. In it, your breath is glorification, your sleep is worship, your deeds are accepted, and your supplications are granted. So, ask Allah, your Lord, with honest intentions and pure hearts, to support you in your fasting therein and your recitation of His Book, for surely, the wretched is he who misses the forgiveness of Allah in this great month. Remember, in your hunger and your thirst therein, the hunger and thirst of the Day of Resurrection. Give charity to your poor and needy folk, respect your elders, be merciful to your young, connect with your relatives, guard your tongues, lower your gaze from that which you are prohibited from looking at, withhold from that which you are prohibited from listening to, show mercy to the orphans of the people and your orphans, and repent to Allah of your sins. Raise your hands to Him in supplication at the time of your prayers, for that is the best time – Allah looks to His servants with mercy therein, He answers them if they whisper to Him, He fulfills them if they call to Him, He grants to them if they ask Him, and He answers them if they supplicate to Him. O people! Whoever among you feeds a fasting believer in this month, it will be as though, in the sight of Allah, he freed a slave; and his past sins will be forgiven. So, it was said: O Messenger of Allah! Not all of us are capable of that. So, he (s) said: Fear the Fire, even with regards to half a date. Fear the Fire, even with regards to a drink of water. O people! Whoever beautifies his character in this month will be given a permit on the Path on the Day when feet will falter. Whoever eases the affairs of his slave in this month, Allah will ease his judgment. Whoever withholds his evil therein, Allah will withhold His anger against him on the Day he meets Him. Whoever is generous to an orphan therein, Allah will be generous to him on the Day he meets Him. Whoever connects with his relatives therein, Allah will connect him with His mercy on the Day he meets Him. Whoever cuts off his relatives therein, Allah will cut His mercy off from him on the Day he meets Him. Whoever offers voluntary prayers therein, Allah will record a dissociation from the Fire for him. Whoever offers an obligatory prayer therein, he will have the reward of one who offers seventy obligatory prayers in other months. Whoever increases in blessing me therein, Allah will make his scale weighty on the Day when scales are lightened. Whoever recites one verse of the Quran therein, he will have the reward of one who completes the Quran in other months. O people! Surely, the gates of Paradise are open in this month, so ask your Lord to not lock them for you. The gates of Hellfire are locked, so ask your Lord to not open them to you. The devils are bound, so ask your Lord to not unleash them for you. Amir al-Mu’minin said: I stood and said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! What is the best of deeds in this month? So, he said: O Aba’l Hasan! The best of deeds in this month is piety with regards to what Allah has prohibited. Then, he wept, so I said: O Messenger of Allah! What has caused you to weep? So, he said: O `Ali! I weep over the trespassing that will occur against you during this month. It is as though I am with you and you are praying to your Lord, when the most wretched of the former and latter peoples – the brother of the one who slaughtered the she-camel of Thamud – strikes you upon the side of your head, from which your beard will be dyed. Amir al-Mu’minin said: So, I said: O Messenger of Allah! Will I be at peace with my religion? So, he said: You will be at peace with your religion. Then, he (s) said: O `Ali! Whoever kills you has killed me, whoever angers you has angered me, and whoever insults you has insulted me, because you are from me like my own self. Your spirit is from my spirit and your clay is from my clay. Surely, Allah created me and you, chose me and you, selected me for prophethood, and selected you for Imamate – so, whoever denies your Imamate has denied my prophethood. O `Ali! You are my deputy, the father of my descendants, the husband of my daughter, and my vicegerent over my Nation in my lifetime and after my death. Your order is my order, and your prohibition is my prohibition. I swear by Him who sent me with prophethood and made me the best of people, you are the Proof of Allah over His creation, His trustee over His secret, and His vicegerent over His servants.