21. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from al-Hassan ibn Mahbub from ‘Abd Allah ibn Sinan from Ma’ruf ibn Kharrabuz from abu Ja’far who has said the following: “Once Amir al-Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) prayed the morning prayer with people in Iraq. After prayer he gave a speech on having fear of Allah. He wept and made people weep. He then said, ‘By Allah, I lived with a people, in the times of my beloved one, the Messenger of Allah, who were ragged, dusty and slim-bellied. Between their eyes it looked like the hooves of a goat. They spent the night in prostration and in standing position before their Lord, only resting on their feet or forehead. They whispered to their Lord to set their necks free from the fire and, by Allah, I saw them in such condition and they still were afraid and anxious (because of the next life).”’