Al-Amālī (al-Mufīd), no. 329

10. He said: Abu al-Tayyib al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Nahwi, the friend of Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Ambari, reported to me from Abu Bakr Muhammad ibnal-Qasim, who reported from al-Abbas ibn al-Husayn al-Lahabi, who reported from al-Hassan, from Qubaisah al-Lahabi, who said: ‘Ali ibn Hafs ibn Umar wrote to Abu Ja’far al-Mansoor that I saw it written in a khan at Multan that: Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abdillah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali Abi Talib (peace be upon him) says: When I reached this place, and found myself secure, I said: "Perchance, the drinking fountain may clear up to quench the thirst, a thirst which has been prolonged because of the turbid water, Perchance, you may be garbed by the unclothed one, and may find help from the lowly and oppressed; Perchance a bonesetter of the broken bone may from his kindness, feel sympathy for the broken bone and set it. Perchance, Allah may not allow His slave to despair, for all that is lofty and great is indeed negligible in His sight." Sheikh said: And Abu al-Tayyib al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Tammar recited to me quoting Abu Bakr al-Arzami, the following:- "(In this world) I find a (feeble) helpless person known as tough because of his tyranny, (but) had he adopted fear of Allah, his brutality might have been blunted; And (I find) a chaste person taken as helpless, because of his (virtue of) chastity (and modesty) (though) had it not been for fear of Allah, the ways (of evil) would not have found him powerless; And (I find) a fool whose affairs are cared for (by others), being appointed a leader by his fellowmen and his relatives, (in spite of the fact that) he has no resoluteness in his affairs, nor are nobility and magnanimity counted among his qualities. But all that is controlled by Allah, and He grants, So neither this contends him nor that tries to overcome him; (The truth is that) when Allah in His mercy, perfects the wisdom of a person, his behaviour and all his desires are perfected also."