4. We were told by Muhammed bin Qasim al-Esterabadi, the Exegetist, that he said: I was told by Yusuf bin Muhammed bin Ziyad, and Ali bin Muhammed bin Sayyar, from their fathers, from Hasan bin Ali bin Muhammed bin Ali bin Musa bin Ja’far bin Muhammed bin Ali bin Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon them, with regards to His saying: «Guide us the Straight Path», that he said:

Maintain to us Your success by which we have obeyed You in the past of our days that we might obey you, likewise, in the future of our ages. The Straight Path is two Paths: a Path in this world, and a Path in the Hereafter. As for the Straight Path in this world, it is what has shortened beneath exaggeration, arisen above short-coming and become straight by which it does not deviate to anything of falsehood. As for the other Way, it is the Way of the believers to Paradise, which is straight; they do not deviate from Paradise to the Fire, nor to other than the Fire, but to Paradise. He said: Ja’far bin Muhammed al-Sadiq, peace be upon them both, said with regards to His saying, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Guide us the Straight Path». He said: He says: Direct us to the Straight Path, direct us to adherence to the Way that leads to Your love, the transmitter to Your Religion and the impediment from making us follow our desires, lest we become impaired, or making us follow our opinion, lest we perish. Then he, peace be upon him, said: Indeed, the one who follows his desire and is admired by his own opinion, will be like a man whom I have heard the populace’s waste material magnify and ridicule. I wanted to meet him in a manner that he does not recognize me, that I might see his value and position. I saw that he was surrounded by many people from the populace’s waste material, and I stood in withdrawal from them, covered with a veil, looking at him and them, and he continued to elude them until he went in an opposing direction, separated from them and did not stay, after which the populace dispersed from him to their needs. I followed him, tracing his steps, and he did not stay but that he passed by a baker, distracted him and took from his shop two loafs in theft, and so I was amazed by him, and then I said in myself: Perhaps it was a transaction? Then after it, he passed by an owner of pomegranates, and he remained with him until he distracted him and took from him two pomegranates in theft, and so I was amazed by him, and then I said in myself: Perhaps it was a transaction? Then I said: What need does he have for theft then? I kept following him until he passed by an ill person and placed the two loafs and the two pomegranates between his hands and went. I followed him until he dwelled in an area of the desert, and I said to him: O servant of Allah, I have heard of you and wanted to meet you, and so I saw you, but I saw from you what distressed my heart, and I will ask you about it, so that the distress of my heart vanishes. He said: What is it? I said: I saw you passing by a baker and you stole two loafs from him, then by the owner of pomegranates and you stole two pomegranates from him. He said: Then he said to me: Before everything, tell me, who are you? I said: A man from the sons of Adam, peace be upon him, from the nation of Muhammed, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family. He said: Tell me, who are you? I said: A man from the Household of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family. He said: Where is your country? I said: Medina. He said: Perhaps you are Ja’far bin Muhammed bin Ali bin Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib, Allah’s blessings be upon them? I said: Sure. Then he said to me: So what does the nobility of your origin benefit you with your ignorance of what you have been honored with and your abandonment of the knowledge of your grandfather and father with regards to not rebuke that whose doer must be praised and commended for? I said: What is it? He said: The Qur’an, the Book of Allah! I said: What thing have I been ignorant of from it? He said: The saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Whoever comes with a good deed, will have ten the likes thereof, and whoever comes with a misdeed, will not be rewarded except the like thereof» (6:160) When I stole the two loafs, they were two misdeeds, and then I stole the two pomegranates, they were two misdeeds. So, these are four misdeeds, and when I gave each one of them as charity, I had forty good deeds with them. So, reduce from the forty good deeds, four, due to four misdeeds, and it remains to me thirty six good deeds. I said: May your mother mourn you! You are the ignorant of the Book of Allah. Have you not heard that He, Exalted and Glorious is He, says: «He only accepts from the godfearing» (5:27)? When you stole two loafs, they were two misdeeds, and when you stole two pomegranates, they were also two misdeeds, and when you gave them to other than their owners without the order of their owners, then you would only have added four misdeeds onto four misdeeds, and you would not have added forty good deeds onto four misdeeds. Then he kept glancing at me, so I went and left him. Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: With such a horrid, disliked, interpretation they are aberrated and they aberrate. This is similar to the interpretation of Mu’awiya, may Allah curse him, when Ammar bin Yasir, may Allah grant him mercy, was killed, the shoulders flanks of many people shivered and they said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: Ammar will be killed by the transgressing faction. Therein, Amru entered into Mu’awiya, may Allah curse him, and said: O Commander of the Believers, the people have become agitated and disordered. He said: Why? He said: The killing of Ammar. Then Mu’awiya, may Allah curse him, said: The killing of Ammar, then what? He said: Did not Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family [2], say: Ammar will be killed by the transgressing faction? Then Mu’awiya, may Allah curse him, said to him: You are revoked with your saying. Did we kill him? He was only killed by Ali bin Abi Talib when he threw him between our spears! Then this reached Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and he said: Hence, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, would have been the one who killed Hamza when he threw him between the spears of the polytheists! Then al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: Tuba [3] is for those who are like the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: This knowledge will be carried from every successor, by an enemy of him, and they will negate from it the alteration of the exaggerators, the assumption of the undue and the interpretation of the ignorant ones.