Kitāb al-Zuhd

Humility and Arrogance

محمد بن سنان عمن اخبره عن أبي بصير قال: سمعت أبا جعفر عليه السلام يقول: إن موسى بن عمران عليه السلام حبس عنه الوحي ثلاثين صباحا فصعد على جبل بالشام يقال له: أريحا فقال: يا رب لم حبست عنى وحيك وكلامك الذنب أذنبته؟ فها انا بين يديك فاقتص لنفسك رضاها وان كنت حبست عنى وحيك وكلامك لذنوب بني إسرائيل فعفوك القديم فأوحى الله إليه ان يا موسى أتدري لم وخصصتك بوحيي وكلامي من بين خلقي؟ فقال: لا اعلمه يا رب قال: يا موسى انى اطلعت إلى خلقي اطلاعة فلم أر في خلقي شيئا أشد تواضعا منك فمن ثم خصصتك بوحيي وكلامي من بين خلقي قال: فكان موسى عليه السلام إذا صلى لم ينفتل حتى يلصق خده الأيمن بالأرض وخدا لا يسر بالأرض.

6.Muḥammad ibn Sinān narrated from the one who informed him, from Abū Baṣīr who said, “I heard Abā Jaʿfar (a) say, ‘Verily divine revelation was withheld from Mūsā ibn ʿImrān (a) for thirty days, so he ascended a mountain in al-Shām which was called Arīḥā, and said, ‘O Lord, why have You withheld Your revelation and Your communication from me? Have I sinned in any way? Then here I am before You so punish me as You please! And if You have withheld Your revelation and communication from me due to the sins of the Banī Isrāʾīl, then Your forgiveness is pre-eternal!’ So Allah revealed to him saying, ‘O Mūsā, do you know why I chose you for My revelation and communication among My creation?’ ‘I do not know that, O Lord,’ he replied. He said, ‘O Mūsā, I examined My creation, inspecting them, but did not see anyone among them as intensely humble as you. That is why I chose you for My revelation and communication among My creation.’” He (the Imam) said, “When Mūsā (a) used to pray, he did not turn aside [from his prayers] until he placed his right cheek on the earth and [then] his left cheek upon the earth [in humility before Allah].”

Kitāb al-Zuhd

Book 2, Chapter #10