Three Whose Prayers Will Not be Answered

“I was with Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB). A tray of dates was in front of him (MGB). A beggar came and the Imam (MGB) gave him some dates. Another one came and the Imam (MGB) gave him some dates. A third beggar came, but the Imam (MGB) said, ‘May God grant you an increase of sustenance!’ Then the Imam (MGB) told me, ‘If a man has more than thirty or forty-thousand (Dinars) and wishes to give it all away in charity, he can do so, but he will become poor and will be amongst those whose prayers are returned to themselves.’ I asked the Imam (MGB), ‘May I be your ransom! Who are these people?’ The Imam (MGB) replied, ‘They include men to whom God has granted what they prayed for, but spend it all for God’s sake and again say, ‘O God! Please give me more sustenance!’ They also include men who curse their wives while having treated their wives oppressively. They are told, ‘Have We not entrusted her affairs with you?’ They also include men who sit in their house, pray to seek their sustenance and say, ‘O God! Please deliver my sustenance to me! The Honorable the Exalted God tells them, ‘Have I not established a way for you to obtain your daily sustenance?’”