1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Isma’il ibn Mehran from ‘Ubays ibn Hisham from those whom he has mentioned (in his book) from abu Ja’far who has said the following: ‘‘The readers of the Holy Quran are of three kinds: There is a man who has learned the Holy Quran and has taken it as a piece of merchandise to attract the rulers thereby and dominate the people. There is a man who has learned the Holy Quran, preserved its letters, but has lost its laws. He has kept its letters without change. (I wish) Allah would not increase the number of people like him as the carrier of the Holy Quran. ‘‘There is a man who has applied the medicine of the Holy Quran to the wounds of his heart, it keeps him vigilant during the night, he endures thirst during the day, stands up in mosques and leaves his bed for its (the Holy Quran) sake. Through such people Allah, the Most Majestic, the Almighty, defends the land against the enemies, and through them he sends down rain from the sky. By Allah, such ones among the readers of the Holy Quran are like alchemy in rarity and value.”