9. 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 ibn Ja’far bin Muhammed bin Ali bin Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon them, with regards to the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «The Path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor» means (that you shall) say: Guide us the Path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor by granting success to Your Religion and obedience, and they are those about whom Allah, Exalted and Glorious, said: «And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, they are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favor, from the Prophets, the Truthful, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions.» (4:70) Exactly this was also reported of the Commander of the Believers, peace be upon him, that he said: It is not those upon whom it has been bestowed with favors of money and health in bodies, although all this is an apparent grace from Allah. Do you not see that these might be disbelievers or grieve sinners? You were not called to pray that you are directed to their path, but rather, you were ordered to pray that you are directed to the Path of those upon whom Allah has bestowed with the favors of faith in Allah, belief in His Messenger and befriendship to Muhammed and his Pure Family and his good, noble, companions, and of righteous Taqiya by which safety is granted from the evil among Allah’s servants and from increasement of the evil deeds and disbelief of Allah’s enemies, by being affable with them and not impute them for harming you and harming the believers, and by knowing the rights of the brothers among the believers. Verily, there is no servant nor maid who befriends Muhammed and the Family of Muhammed, peace be upon them, and antagonizes those who antagonized them, except that he took from the torment of Allah a protective shield. And there is no servant nor slave who appeased the servants of Allah and did well in appeasement by which he did not enter into any falsehood and not deviate from any truth, except that Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, makes his breathing a glorification, purifies his deeds and gives an insight to conceal our secret and patience with anger due to what he hears from our enemies, like the reward of the one smeared with his blood for the sake of Allah. And there is no servant who takes himself to carry out the rights of his brothers, fulfills their rights effortfully, gives them what is possible for him and is satisfied with them by pardoning them and abandoning the investigation into them with regards to what happens of their errors, and who forgivest hem for it, except that Allah says to him on the Day he meets Him: O my servant, you fulfilled the rights of your brothers, and you did not investigate into them with regards to that which they owe you. Hence, I am more Munificent and Generous and Prior of what you did of pardoning and generosity, so, I will today, indeed, fulfil a right I promised you and increase from My wide favor, and I will not look into you with regards to your short-coming with some of My rights. He said: Then He will joint hem with Muhammed and his Family and make him among the best of their Shi’a. Then he said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said to some of his companions one day: O servant of Allah, love for the sake of Allah, hate for the sake of Allah, befriend for the sake of Allah, antagonize for the sake of Allah, for indeed, the befriendship of Allah cannot be attained except by such, and a man will not find the taste of faith, even if his prayers and fasts augment, until he becomes as such. Indeed, the fraternity among people has, on this day of yours, has mostly become for the sake of this world; for its sake they affectionate, and for its sake they antagonize, and that will not avail them from Allah at all. Then the man said: O Messenger of Allah, how can I know that I have befriended and antagonized for the sake of Allah, and who is the Ally of Allah, that I may befriend him? And who is his enemy, that I may antagonize him? Then the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, pointed towards Ali, peace be upon him, and said: Do you see him? He said: Sure. He said: The ally of his is the ally of Allah, so befriend him, and the enemy of his is the enemy of Allah, so antagonize him, and befriend the ally of his, even if he has fought your father and sons, and antagonize the enemy of his, even if he is your father or sons.