Rare Ahadith

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that once two people brought their dispute before ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.). One of them had purchased a camel from the other one, and the seller had excluded the head and the skin. The buyer then decided to sell it. He (the Imam) said to the buyer, ‘His share in the camel is proportionate to the head and skin.’”

“I once saw abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), examine an account with his agent who very often said, ‘By Allah, I have not committed treachery, by Allah I have not committed treachery.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), then said, ‘O you, wasting my assets and your committing treachery is the same; the wickedness of treachery is on you.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘The Messenger of Allah has said, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, “If one of you runs away from his share of sustenance, it follows him just as one who runs away from his death which follows him until it finds him. If one commits treachery it is counted (taken) against his sustenance and its sin is written on him.’””

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), that my assets are gone, my belongings have scattered and I have a large family. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), then said, ‘When you arrive in al-Kufah, open your shop, set up your display and balance and engage in (earning) sustenance from your Lord.’ Upon his arrival he opened his shop, set up his display and balance. People around found it strange knowing that there was nothing in his home of assets or with him. A man came to him and asked (and paid) him to buy for him cloths. He bought it (perhaps on credit) for him and received the payment for it which remained with him. Then another man came and said, ‘Buy for me a cloth.’ He searched in the market for him, and then bought it for him and the payment for it remained in his hand. This was how business people exchanged goods among themselves. Then another man came and said, ‘O abu ‘Ummarah, I have a bundle of Kattan. Do you want to buy it to pay me after one year?’ He replied, ‘Yes, load it and deliver to me.’ It was delivered to him and he bought it to pay after one year. The man then left and a man from the market came and asked, ‘O abu ‘Ummarah, what is this bundle?’ He replied, ‘I have purchased this bundle.’ He asked, ‘Can you sell to me one-half of it and keep the price with you?’ He then purchased it and he gave him one-half of the goods for a payment of one-half of the price which remained in his hand for one year. He then would buy cloths with that fund, put one or two cloths on display, buy and sell, until he became affluent, able to show his face and find fame.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once asked me, ‘How do you make a living?’ I replied, ‘I have two slaves and two camels.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not speak about it to your brothers (in belief); if they do not harm, they do not benefit you either.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘The sustenance of certain people is in trading, others have it in their sword and certain ones in their tongue.”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘One who faces constraint in his living’ -or he (the Imam) said ‘in his sustenance- should buy small ones (of animal) and sell large ones.’” It is also narrated from him (the Imam) that if one’s plans do not work he should work in al-kursuf (a certain kind of fabric).

“Abu al-Hassan (a.s.), has said, ‘With whatever (lawful) means one opens the door to his sustenance it is business and trade.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), would say, ‘If one is calling to what he sells, you do not have to increase; only announcing makes increasing unlawful and remaining silent makes the increase lawful.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘If one plants wheat in a land and it does not come pure or the plantation grows with a great deal of barley, it is because of the injustice of his work to the piece of land that he owns or it is because of the injustice of his workers. Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, says, ‘. . . because of the injustice of Jews We made certain good things that were lawful, unlawful for them.’ (4:158) It was meat of camel, cow and sheep. He (the Imam) said, ‘Israel when eating the meat of camel would suffer pain in his lower back, thus he made eating of the meat of camel unlawful for himself, and this was before the coming of the Torah. When Torah came it did not make it unlawful but he did not eat.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who becomes a friend of a young woman who gives him four thousand dirham and says, ‘If our friendship is destroyed you can return the dirhams to me.’ He works with it and makes profits. The young man marries and wants to repent, what should he do? He (the Imam) said, ‘He must return the dirhams and the profit belongs to him.’”

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah prohibited eating of what ants carry in their mouth or with their legs.”

foiiowing: “I once heard him (the Imam) (a.s.), saying, ‘The skillfulness of a man is for his earning a living.’”

foiiowing: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who becomes friends with a woman who gives him a certain amount of asset which remains in his hands for as long as Allah wants; then he spends from it. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must return it to her and if anything extra is left it is for him.’”

14. Muhammad ibn Yahya has said that Muhammad once wrote to abu Muhammad (a.s.), about a man to whom another man owed one hundred dirham. He demanded for payment but the debtor said, ‘I will come back to you in ten days after completing my work. If I will not come back, you will have one thousand dirham on me at once without any condition and I appoint witnesses for it.’ He then calls for witnesses. He (the Imam) signed the answer that said, ‘They must only testify to what is true and the creditor must only take what is his right, by the will of Allah.’”

foiiowing: “I once passed with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), through the copper market and I asked, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, what is the origin of the copper?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is silver but the land spoils it and if one can take away the invalidity, he can benefit from it.’”

“‘I still give goods to this man and he says that it is destroyed or is spent, so what kind of plan can help it?’ He (the planner) said, ‘You can give the man one thousand dirham and give it to him as loan; then give him twenty dirham to work with the asset and say to him, “This is my capital and that is your capital. Whatever you gain thereof is between both of us.’” I asked about it from ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), who said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“We complained before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the loss of our clothes with the cleaners. He (the Imam) said, ‘Write on them, “Blessing for us.’” We did so and did not lose any cloth thereafter.”

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When you are hungry play (eat slowly) with raisins.

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), has said, ‘It is not lawful to deny salt and fire (to those who ask for it).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, had an occasional companion from the time of ignorance. When he (the Messenger of Allah) was commissioned as the Holy Prophet, he met him and said to the Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, ‘As a companion I pray to Allah to give you good because you agreed and did not argue.’ The Holy Prophet said to him, ‘So also from me, may Allah give you good for a companion; you did not refuse any benefit and did not grind your teeth (you were not stingy).”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a Muslim man with whom a thieving man leaves a certain amount of dirham and he is a Muslim also; if he must return it to him. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, he must not return it. If he can find the owner he must give it to him; otherwise, he must deal with it as what is found as a lost item and announce about it in public for one year. If the owner is found it is fine; otherwise, it is given as charity. If the owner comes thereafter he is given the choice to leave it for charity and reward or claim the loss. If he chooses charity he receives the reward; if he chooses compensation for the loss, the reward goes to one who pays compensation.’”

“This is concerning my question before the virtuous servant of Allah saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, we in Makkah had travel-mates, and when they left and we also left we carried certain items of their goods without knowing and they had gone. We did not know their places and the goods were left with us. What should we do about them? He (the Imam) said, ‘Take them with you to meet them in al-Kufah.’ I (Yunus) said, ‘I do not know them and we do not know how to find them.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Sell the items and give its price to your people.’ I then asked, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, should I give them to Ahl al-Walayah (people who believe in the Divine Authority of ‘A’immah)? He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, give it to them.’”

“This is concerning my question of Dhariyh al-Muharibiy before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a slave who takes an item that is found. He (the Imam) said, ‘What a slave has to do with an item found! He does not own anything for himself. A slave must not have bothered about it. He must announce it in public for one year. If the owner comes it must be given to him, otherwise, it remains in his belongings; and if he dies it becomes of his legacy for his children and those who inherit him. If no one comes to demand it, it remains in their belongings and it becomes their property; but if someone comes asking for it they must give it to him.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, prohibited exposing a she-camel before a he-camel for breeding, unless the young is given in charity or is slaughtered as well as a donkey to leap (mount) over an old one.’”

“A certain person of our people lived in al-Madinah and he suffered severe constraints. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said to him, ‘You must go to find a shop in the market, set up your display and keep a jar of water with you and guard the door of your shop. He (the narrator) has said that he followed the instruction and remained in that condition as long as Allah wanted. Then a company of people came from Egypt. Every one of them left their goods with people whom each one knew until shops became full. Only one man was left who did not find a shop to store his goods. People of the market told him that there is man who has no problems and there are no goods in his shop. You can store your goods in his shop. He went to him and asked him, ‘Can I store my goods in your shop?’ He replied, ‘Yes, you can do so.’ He stored his goods in his shop and he began to sell his goods one by one until it was time for his companions to leave and of his goods very little was left. He did not like to stay, so he said to our friend, ‘I leave these goods with you to sell and send the proceeds to me.’ He agreed. The company left as well as the man along with them, leaving the goods with him. Our companion sold the goods and sent the proceeds to him. He (the narrator) has said that when the company from Egypt left, he sent goods to this man and he sold them and sent the proceeds to him. When he experienced this he stayed in Egypt and would send goods to him prepared. He (the narrator) has said that he was set at the right course, thus, he became affluent and rich.”

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), that I owned a flour mill and that it had become my assembly place where my companions came together. He (the Imam) said, ‘That is a blessing from Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘A man’s sitting for follow-up prayer, after the morning Salat (prayer) at his prayer place until sunrise is better for his business than sailing on the ocean in search for sustenance.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he has an urgent work which he is afraid to miss?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He can leave for it and he is considered doing the follow-up prayer as long as he has a valid wudu.’”

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘There will come a biting time upon people. Everyone will keep tight with whatever is in his hand and forget about generosity. Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has said, ‘You must not forget generosity among yourselves.’ (2:239) At that time a people appears who deals (unjustly) with helpless people and they are the wicked ones.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘If one searches for little amounts of sustenance it leads to attract greater amounts of sustenance, and if one gives up small amounts of sustenance it leads to going away of the greater amount of sustenance.’”

“One day I saw Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar pack his bag, ready to move, when a man came asking to exchange dirham with dinar. He opened his bag, gave him dirham and took the dinar. I then said, ‘Allah is free of all defects, how dinar can be better?’ Ishaq said, ‘I did not do it because of my interest in dinar, but I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, “One who considers a small amount of sustenance little becomes deprived of a great deal of sustenance.’””

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘One who is tired of power must cherish small ones.’” Muhammad ibn ‘Isa thinks that al-Ghifariy is of the children of abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him.

“Once, ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), passed by and asked, ‘What are you doing O ‘Umm al- Hassan?’ I replied, ‘I am spinning to make yarn.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘That is a very sweet way of earning’ -or that he said- ‘of the sweetest way of earning.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When you see a man who takes out from his assets in obedience to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, then you must be certain that he has earned it by lawful ways, and when he takes it in disobedience to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, you must rest assured that he has earned it in unlawful ways.’”

“I once said to abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), a man traveled and then came back with a great deal of assets and we did not know if he had earned it in a lawful or unlawful ways. He (the Imam) said, ‘If such is the case, look how he spends it. If he spends in ways that he is not supposed to spend or is of the sinful ways it then is from unlawful ways.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, once passed by a man who sold clothes. The man was tall and the cloth was short. He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘Sit down; it is more useful for your commodity.”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘I once took a letter to my father that a man had sent and I took it out of my sleeves. He (the Imam) said, ‘My son, do not keep anything in your sleeves; it causes loss of things.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘There will come a time when people complain before their Lord.’ I then asked, ‘How they will complain before their Lord?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘A man will say, “By Allah, I have not gained anything since so and so much time and ate or drank except from my capital.” Fie upon you, is your capital or its peak from any source other than from your Lord!”’

“I once heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), saying, ‘During the time of the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, there was a believing man, poor and very needy of the people of the platform (in front of Masjid). He always kept very close to the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, at the times of all Salat (prayer) and did not miss any of them. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, sympathized with him greatly, looked after his needs and his poverty and said, ‘O Sa‘d, if something comes to me I will make you self-sufficient.’ It so happened that for a long time the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, did not get a chance and he (the Messenger of Allah) became depressed for Sa‘d. Allah, most Majestic, noticed how the Messenger of Allah felt about Sa‘d and Jibril came to the Messenger of Allah with two dirham and said, ‘O Muhammad, Allah has noticed how you feel about Sa‘d. Do you want to make him rich?’ He (the Messenger of Allah) replied, ‘Yes, I want to make him rich. Jibril gave him two dirhams and told him to give them to Sa‘d and instruct him to do business with them. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, took the two dirham then went out for Salat (prayer) and Sa‘d was standing at the door of the chambers of the Messenger of Allah waiting for him. When the Messenger of Allah saw him he said, £ 0 Sa‘d, are you good at trading?’ Sa‘d replied, ‘By Allah, I do not own anything to do trading. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, gave him the two dirham and told him to use them in trading and work for sustenance from Allah.’ Sa‘d took them and went with the Holy Prophet, until they performed al-Zuhr and al-‘Asr Salat (prayer). The Holy Prophet, said, ‘Go in search for sustenance; I was worried about your condition, O Sa‘d.’ Whatever Sa‘d bought for one he then sold it for two dirham and whatever he bought for two dirham he sold for four dirham and the worldly things began to move to him. His assets grew larger and his business became great. At the door of the Masjid he found a place where he sat and operated his trade. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, came out for Salat (prayer) when Bilal said Adhan but Sa‘d was busy with the worldly things without wudu and unprepared unlike the way he did before he was engaged in trading. The Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, asked, ‘O Sa‘d, the worldly things have kept you busy and away from Salat (prayer).’ He replied, ‘What can I do? I do not want to waste my assets. From this man I must receive payment and to this man I must pay.’ He (the Imam) said that the Messenger of Allah began to feel sadder about Sa‘d than about his poverty. Jibril came and said, ‘O Muhammad, Allah has noticed your feeling about Sa‘d. Of his conditions which one you like: this condition or that one before?’ The Holy Prophet said, ‘O Jibril, I like his condition before because his worldly things have taken away his hereafter. Jibril then said, ‘The love of the world and its asset is a trial and deviates one from the hereafter. You must ask Sa‘d to return your two dirham that you gave him. His condition will change to that he had before.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, went out, passed by Sa‘d and asked, ‘Do you not want to return the two dirham I had given to you?’ Sa‘d replied, ‘Yes, indeed, I can give two hundred dirham.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘I just want the two dirham.’ Sa‘d gave two dirham to the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause. He (the Imam) said that the worldly things turned away from Sa‘d until all that he had collected were gone and he returned to the condition he had before.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘All things that exist in lawful and unlawful forms are considered lawful for you until you recognize it (the unlawful one) to be exactly the unlawful item, then you must avoid it.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘All things are lawful for you until you recognize it to be exactly an unlawful item which you must avoid from your own side. One such example is a cloth which you may have purchased and it is proved a stolen cloth; or a slave who is with you and perhaps he is free who has sold himself or is tricked and sold or is compelled; or a woman whom you have married and she is your sister or is one who is fed with milk from your wife or mother or sister or daughter and things likewise; until it becomes clear that they are otherwise or testimony proves otherwise.’”

“I once asked al-Rida’ (a.s.), saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, people narrate that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, whenever he walked on a road would not return from the same, if this is how it was. He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, that is how it was and very often I also do so and you should also do it.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It gives you a greater chance to increase your sustenance.’”

“I once complained before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), against my worsening condition and mounting difficulties. He (the Imam) said, ‘When you arrive in al-Kufah, sell a piece of pillow from your home for ten dirham, invite your brothers, prepare food for them and ask them to pray for you to Allah.’ He (the narrator) has said, ‘I followed the instruction but it was not possible without selling the piece of pillow to prepare food as he (the Imam) had instructed me. So I sold the pillow and asked them to pray for me before Allah.’ He has said, ‘By Allah I waited only very little that one of my debtors came at the door and knocked at it. He made a settlement with me about a large amount of assets that I counted at ten thousand dirham.’ He has said that thereafter things began to come to him.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘One who consumes the assets of a believing person in unlawful ways is not of my follower and friends.’”

“I once wrote to him (the Imam) (abu al-Hassan, al-Thalith) from al-Madinah in the year two hundred thirty-one, saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, a man commands another man to buy goods for him or other things which he buys but the goods are stolen or are looted on the way, from whose asset is this loss, is it from the assets of the commander or the one commanded? He (the Imam) ‘Alayhi al-Salam, wrote the answer that said, ‘It is from the asset of the commander.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Of the people there are those who earn their living from the sword, others from trade and still others earn by their tongue.’”

“In al-Madinah there was a man with us, called abu al-Qamqa’m who was unfortunate. He went to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), and complained before him against his condition and informed him (the Imam) that wherever he goes for something he fails. Abu al-Hassan (a.s.), said, ‘In your last prayer in the morning, say, ‘Free of all defect is Allah, most Great. I ask forgiveness from Allah and plead before Him for help through His generosity’, ten times.’ Abu Qamqa’m has said, ‘I kept doing it and after very little time a people from village came to me and told me that a man from my people has died and there no heir is found for him except me. I went with them and received his legacy which made me rich.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not deny loaning yeast for bread-making and taking fire to start a fire; because it attracts sustenance to the family along with high moral manners.’”

“A man during the time of ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), had found a treasure and my father bought it from him for three hundred dirham and one hundred sheep followed by their young; and my mother blamed him for it, saying, ‘You have bought it for three hundred sheep; one hundred of their young, one hundred sheep and one hundred in their womb.’ My father regretted and went to ask for a reduced price. He refused and said, ‘Take from me ten sheep, take from me twenty sheep’ and made him tired. My father then took the treasure and made a price for one thousand sheep from it. The other man came back and said, ‘Take your sheep back and give me whatever you like.’ But he refused. He tried until he was exhausted and said, ‘I can harm you.’ He complained before ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), against my father. When my father told his side of the story before ’Amir al- Mu’minin (a.s.), he (the Imam) said to the owner of treasure, ‘Pay one-fifth of what you have received because it is on you as the finder of the treasure and there is nothing on him because he has taken the price of his sheep.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about the case of a man to whom another man owed a certain amount of assets because of ‘Aynah deal. When payment time was due he did not have anything to pay so he wanted to turn it over on him for profit; if he can sell a pearl or something else worth a hundred dirham for a thousand so he can defer payment. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful because my father, may Allah be pleased with him, had done so and he commanded me to do so because of something that he owed.’”

“I faced a difficult condition and wrote to abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about it and he (the Imam) wrote to me, ‘Continue reading, “We sent Noah to his people ... to the end.’” (Chapter 71) I read it for one year but did not see any change. I wrote to him again to inform him (the Imam) of my difficult condition and that I have been reading the Chapter for one year as the Imam had instructed and that I did not experience any change. He (the Imam) then wrote to me saying, ‘One year is passed, now read Chapter 97.’ I then read it for a very short time that ibn abu Dawud sent me something and paid off my debts and sent me and my family to al-Basrah as an agent to Bab Kala’ (name of a place) with a salary of five hundred dirham; and from al-Basra I wrote through Ali ibn Mahziyar to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), explaining, ‘I had written to your father about so and so issues and had complained against so and so matters, I have found what I liked. I like to ask you about what I should do about reading Chapter 97, if I must continue reading it in my obligatory Salat (prayer) and others or there is a limit of time for it.’ He (the Imam) signed the answer and I read the signature that said, ‘You must not leave from Quran, short or long passages. Of Chapter 97 it is enough to read one hundred times in one day and night.’”

“I once wrote to abu Ja‘far (a.s.), and said, ‘Debts are holding me down and they are heavy.’ He (the Imam) wrote to me, ‘Ask forgiveness from Allah a great deal and moisten you tongue by reading, “Inna Anzalna” Chapter 97.’”

“Once a certain person of the followers of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), came to visit him (the Imam) and he saw his shirt had a patch on it, so he kept looking at it. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), asked, ‘Why are you looking?’ He replied, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, there is a patch on your shirt.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Pick up this book and read what is there’ - there was a book in front of him (the Imam) or nearby. The man looked in the book and it was written there, ‘One who does not feel shy has no faith, one who does not plan has no wealth and one who does not have anything old cannot have anything new.’”

“’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘When Allah becomes angry with a people on whom He has not sent any suffering, He makes their prices to become costly, shortens their life span, takes away profit from their trade, their fruits do not become clean, their canals do not over-flow and He withholds their rain and makes their wicked ones to dominate them.’”

“Once an Arab came on his camel in the time of the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, sell my (herd of) camels for me.’ The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, said, ‘I am not a camel seller in the market.’ He then said, ‘Give me an idea.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Sell this he-camel for so and so much and this she-camel for so and so much until he (the Messenger of Allah) explained for him about every camel there. The Arab man went to the market and sold them. He then came back to the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, and said, ‘I swear by the One who has sent you with truth, not one dirham was less or more than what you had said it was, so accept my gift, O Messenger of Allah.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘No, I do not accept.’ He said, ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah, accept it.’ They continued speaking until he (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘You must give us a she-camel as a gift and you must not separate it from its young.’”

“I once said to abu al-Hassan ‘Alayhi al-Salam, ‘I may buy certain things in the presence of my father and I see certain things in him that make me depressed.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Avoid buying in his presence. When you have a right on a man say to him, “Write down, ‘So and so has written in his handwriting, assigning Allah as witness upon himself and Allah is sufficient witness.’” He will certainly pay in his life time or after his death.’”

“I once was with Ishaq ibn ‘ Ammar al-Sayrafiy when a man came and he wanted something for a dinar but he had closed the shop and had sealed the sack. He then gave him the item for a dinar. I then said, ‘Fie on you, O Ishaq! I could have picked up for you a hundred thousand dirham from the ship.’ He said to me, ‘I had the same attitude but I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, “Whoever belittles a small amount of sustenance is deprived of its greater amount.” Then he (the Imam) turned to me and said, “O Ishaq, do not belittle small amounts of sustenance; otherwise, you will be deprived of its greater amount.’””

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Earning certain kinds of sustenance dries up one’s skin on his bones (very hard to earn).”’

“I once mentioned Egypt to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.). He (the Imam) said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘You can seek to earn sustenance from it but you must not seek to stay there.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), then said, ‘Egypt is harsh; young ones break down there.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that once al-Mawaliy (non-Arab Muslims) came to ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), and said, ‘We complain before you against these Arabs. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, would give us gifts along with them equally. He (the Messenger of Allah) arranged marriage for Salman, Bilal and Suhayb but these have denied it for us saying, “We do not do so.’” ‘Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), went to them and spoke to them and Arabs shouted, ‘We have denied them, O abu al-Hassan, we have denied them O abu al-Hassan.’ He (the Imam) came out angry with his gown dragging behind him, saying, ‘O Mawaliy people, they have equaled you with Jews and Christians. They marry from you but do not allow you to marry from them and do not give you what they take. You must do business, may Allah grant you blessings. I heard the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, saying, “Sustenance has ten parts, of which nine are in trade and one part is in other things.’””