66. We were told by my father, may Allah grant him mercy, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin Idrees, that he said: We were told by Muhammed ibn Ahmad bin Yahya bin Imran al-Ash’ari, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin Abdul-Hameed, from the one who told him, that he said: A man from the family of Abu Talib died and Abu’l-Hasan, peace be upon him, did not attend to him. A people then came, and when he sat, the people stopped, as if there were birds on their heads, while they were mentioning poverty and death. When he sat, he said, taking initiative from himself (to speak):

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: That which is between sixty and seventy is the battlefield of deaths. He, peace be upon him, then said: The poor are the tribulations of Islam.