5. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr who has said the following: “Once I said to abu al-Hassan al-Rida ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, please write for me to Isma’il ibn Dawud al-Katib. 1 hope I will receive something from him.’ The Imam said, ‘I resent that you ask from him or similar persons. Allow it (financial help) to be paid from my property.’”