Translator’s Introduction

On silence Except when Speaking what is Good, Abandonment of what does not concern one, and Slander

On Etiquette and Encouraging Others to do Good

On Good Character, Kindness and Anger

Virtue and Vice

Kindness to Parents, Relatives, Kinsfolk and Severance of Ties

The Rights of Neighbors

What has come in Reference to Slaves

What has come in Reference to this World and One who Seeks it

The Two Angels and what they Record

Humility and Arrogance

Showing off, Hypocrisy, Self-Admiration, and Conceit

Repentance, Seeking Forgiveness, Regret, and Admission (of Guilt)

Crying out of Fear of Allah

Remembering Death and the Grave

What the Believer and Disbeliever will See (Before Dying)

Questioning in the Grave, Chastisement in the Grave, and Barzakh

Resurrection, Reckoning, Standing Before Allah, the Exalted, and al-Ṣirāṭ

Intercession and Those who will come out of the Fire (of Hell)

Traditions About Paradise and Hell

Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

حدثنا الحسين بن سعيد قال حدثنا إبراهيم بن أبي البلاد عن عبد الله بن الوليد الوصافي قال: قال أبو جعفر عليه السلام: صنايع المعروف تقى مصارع السوء وكل معروف صدقة وأهل المعروف في الدنيا هم أهل المعروف في الآخرة وأهل المنكر في الدنيا هم أهل المنكر في الآخرة وان أول أهل الجنة دخل ولا إلى الجنة أهل المعروف وان أول أهل النار دخولا إلى النار أهل المنكر.

1.Al-Ḥusayn ibn Saʿīd narrated to us saying, “Ibrāhīm ibn Abī al-Bilād narrated to us from ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Walīd al-Waṣṣāfī who said, ‘Abū Jaʿfar (a) said, “Doing good [to others] protects one from falling into ruin, and every good turn is a charity. Those whose wont is to do good [to others] in this world are [known as] the doers of good in the Hereafter, while those who do evil in the world are [recognized] as the evildoers in the Hereafter. Verily the first of the inhabitants of Paradise to be admitted into it are the doers of good, and the first of the people of Hell to be thrown into it are the doers of evil.”’”

عثمان بن عيسى عن علي بن سالم * قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: آية في كتاب الله مسجلة قلت: ما هي؟ قال: قول الله تبارك وتعالى في كتابه: هل جزاء الاحسان الا الاحسان، جرت في الكافر والمؤمن والبر والفاجر من صنع إليه معروف فعليه ان يكافي به وليست المكافاة أن يصنع كما صنع به بل حتى يرى مع فعله لذلك أن له الفضل المبتدأ.

2.ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā narrated from ʿAlī ibn Sālim who said, “I heard AbāʿAbdillāh (a) say, ‘There is a verse in the Qurʾān that is unrestrictedly applicable [to all].’ I asked, ‘Which [verse] is it?’ He said, ‘The verse wherein Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says: Is there any reward for goodness except goodness? (Q55:60) – it applies to the disbeliever and the believer, to the righteous and the wicked. Whoever is done a good turn, it is incumbent upon him to reciprocate; and reciprocation does not mean doing the same as what was done for him; rather, he must do good to the extent that he sees that by his action, he has attained the merit of the initiator [of goodness].’”

إبراهيم بن أبي البلاد عن أبيه رفعه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله من سألكم بالله فاعطوه ومن آتاكم معروفا فكافؤه وانا لم تجدوا ما تكافؤه فادعوا الله له حتى تظنوا انكم قد كافيتموه.

3.Ibrāhīm ibn Abī al-Bilād narrated from his father, who attributed it to the Messenger of Allah (ṣ) that he said, “Whoever asks you by Allah, give to him; and whoever does a good turn to you, recompense him. If you do not find anything to recompense him with, then pray to Allah for him [continually] until you feel sure that you have recompensed him [thereby].”

إبراهيم بن أبي البلاد عن ابن عباد قال: قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام الصنيعة لا تكون صنيعة الا عند ذي حسب أو دين.

4.Ibrāhīm ibn Abī al-Bilād narrated from Ibn ʿAbbād who said, “AbūʿAbdillāh (a) said, ‘A good turn is not considered a good turn except with one who possesses honor or religion.’”

ابن أبي البلاد عمن اخبره عن بعض الفقهاء قال: يوقف فقراء المؤمنين يوم القيامة فيقول لهم الرب تبارك وتعالى: أما أنى لم أفقركم من هوانكم على ولكني أفقرتكم لأبلوكم انطلقوا فلا يبقى أحد صنع إليكم معروفا في الدنيا الا أخذتم بيده فأدخلتموه الجنة.

5.Ibn Abī al-Bilād narrated from the one who informed him, from one of the learned scholars who said, “The poor believers will be stopped on the Day of Judgment and will be told by the Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, ‘Indeed I did not make you poor due to your insignificance in My eyes; rather, I made you poor to test you. Go forth, and let there be no one who did good to you in the world but that you take his hand and make him enter Paradise [with you].’”

6.Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrated from Manṣūr, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAmmār, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “Verily Paradise has a gate that is called ‘the Gate of Goodness’, and none shall enter it except those who did good [to others].”

ابن أبي عمير عن بعض أصحابه عن أبي عبيد الله عليه اسلام قال: اصنع المعروف إلى من هو أهله ومن ليس هو أهله فإن لم يكن هو أهله فأنت أهله.

7.Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrated from one of his companions, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “Do good to one who is worthy and one who is not worthy, for indeed if he is unworthy, then surely you are worthy.”

محمد بن سنان عن داود الرقي عن أبي حمزة الثمالي قال: سمعت أبا جعفر عليه السلام يقول: إن الله عز وجل جعل للمعروف أهلا من خلقه حبب إليهم المعروف وحبب إليهم فعاله وأوجب على طلاب المعروف الطلب إليهم وعليهم قضاه كما يسر الغيث إلى الأرض المجدبة ليحييها ويحيى أهلها وان الله جعل للمعروف أعداءا من خلقه بغض إليهم المعروف وبغض إليهم فعاله وحظر على طلاب المعروف الطلب إليهم وحظر عليهم قضاه كما يحظر الغيث على الأرض المجدبة ليهلك به أهلها وما يعفو الله عنه أكثر.

8,Muḥammad ibn Sinān narrated from Dāwūd al-Riqqī, from Abū Ḥamzah al-Thumālī who said, “I heard Abā Jaʿfar (a) say, ‘Verily Allah, the Almighty, made among His creatures some who are worthy of virtue. He made them love goodness and love doing good [to others]. He enjoined upon those who seek goodness that they should refer to them. And He made it is as easy for them to carry it out as He made it is easy for rain to flow on arid land in order to bring it to life and cause its inhabitants to thrive. Verily Allah made among His creatures some who are enemies of virtue. He made them detest goodness and made them hate acting upon it. He forbade those who seek goodness from referring to them, and prevented them from carrying it out just as He prevents rain from pouring on an arid land [in order] to destroy its inhabitants. And what Allah forgives is greater [than what He punishes].’”

بعض أصحابنا عن القاسم بن محمد عن إسحاق بن إبراهيم قال: قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: ان الله خلق خلقا من عباده فانتجبهم لفقراء شيعتنا ليثيبهم بذلك قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: كفاك بثنائك على  أخيك إذا أسدي إليك معروفا ان تقول له: جزاك الله خيرا وإذا ذكر وليس هو في المجلس ان تقول: جزاء الله خيرا فإذا أنت كافيته.

9.One of our companions narrated from al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, from Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm who said, “Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) said, ‘Verily Allah has created among His creatures some servants whom He has chosenfor [assisting] the poor among our followers, so that He may reward them for that. The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) said, “It suffices for your praise of your brother when he does you a good turn that you say to him: may Allah reward you with goodness; and when he is mentioned in his absence that you say: may Allah reward him with goodness. Then you will have [adequately] reciprocated [his kindness].”’”

Kitāb al-Zuhd

Book 2, Chapter 4