3. We were told by Abu Abdillah, Hussain bin Yahya al-Bajali, that he said: We were told by my father, that he said: We were told by Abu ‘Uwana, Musa bin Yusuf al-Kufi, that he said: We were told by Abdullah bin Yahya, from Ya’qoub bin Yahya, from Abu Hafs, from Abu Hamza al-Thumali, that he said:

I was sitting in the Sacred Mosque with Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him, as two men from the people of Basra came to him, and they both said to him: O son of Allah’s Messenger, we, indeed, want to ask you about a matter. So he said to them both: Ask about what both of you came for. They both said: Inform us about the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Then, We made the Book an inheritance to those whom We Chose from Our servants. And among them was the one who wronged himself, and among them was a moderate, and among them was a forerunner good deeds by the permission of Allah. That is the great virtue» (35:32) until the end of the two verses. He said: It was revealed for the sake of us, the Household. Abu Hamza said: Then I said: May my father be sacrificed for you, and so my mother, then who is the one who wrongs himself? He said: The one whose good deeds and misdeeds are evened towards us, the Household, he is the one who wrongs himself. Then I said: Who is the moderate to you? He said: The worshipper of Allah, his Lord, during the two conditions, until certainty comes to him. Then I said: Then who is the forerunner to you in good deeds? He said: He who calls, by Allah, to the path of his Lord, enjoins good, forbids evil, is not an assistance to the misleading, nor an adversary to (the advantage of) the traitors, nor is pleased with the rule of the grieve sinners, except for he who fears for himself and his religion and finds no assistants.