40-2 Ahmad ibn Ziyad ibn Ja’far al-Hamadani - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashem quoted on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rayyan ibn al-Salt, “I went to see Ali ibn Musa Ar-Ridha’ and told him, “O son of the Prophet! The people say that although you show asceticism, you have accepted the succession to the throne.” He replied, “Indeed God knows how much I hated this. However when I was only given the choice to either accept this or be killed, I chose this (the acceptance of the succession to the throne) over being killed. Woe be to them! Do they not know that Joseph , who was a Prophet, said the following to the King of Egypt when it was necessary to do so, ‘Set me over the store-houses of the land: I will indeed guard them, as one that knows (their importance).’I was also forced to accept this (the acceptance of the succession to the throne) even though I did not like to. I unwillingly accepted it when I was about to be killed. I accepted this affair like one who has no interest in it. And I will take my complaint to God on this issue and seek His Assistance.