يعقوب بن شعيب بن ميثم

My father صلوات الله عليه used to say: Qul Huwa l-Llāhu Aḥad is a third of the Qur’an, and, Qul Yā Ayyuhā l-Kāfirūn is a fourth of the Qur’an

“Say, ‘O my asset in my pain and suffering, O my companion in my severe hardships, O my benefactor, and O my abundant rain fall whenever I may desire.’ “The Imam said that of the supplications of Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) is the following: ‘O Lord, You have written down the consequences, know the news, have information about the secrets, You have taken over the place between us and (our) hearts, thus, secrets are public to You and the hearts have over flown (with desire to come to you). Your command upon a thing, whenever You will, is only Your saying, ‘Be,’ it then comes into existence, say through Your kindness to Your obedience to enter in all and every part of my parts and do not depart from me until I will meet You, and say through Your kindness to disobedience to You to move out of all and every part of my parts and do not ever approach me thereafter until I will meet You, provide me sustenance in this world but make me live with a reduced amount and do not isolate me whenever I desire it, (sustenance) O the Beneficent one.’”

“O the One who appreciates the very little and pardons a great deal, who is forgiving and merciful, forgive my sins, the pleasures of which are gone and the consequences have remained.”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who kills an ostrich. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one badanah of camel.’ I then asked about wild donkey. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one badanah.’ I then asked about a cow. He (the Imam) said, ‘He owes one cow.’”

“I heard Abā ʿAbdillāh (a) say, ‘Verily Allah revealed to Ādam (a), “I have gathered for you all ordinances in four statements.” He asked, “What are they, O Lord?” He said, “One is for Me, one is for you, one is between Me and you, and one is between you and the people.” He (Ādam) said, “Explain them to me, O Lord, so that I may act upon them.” He said, “As for that which is for Me, it is that you worship Me and do not ascribe anything as a partner to Me. As for that which is for you, it is that I will recompense you for your actions when you are most in need of it. As for that which is between Me and you, it is upon you to supplicate to Me and it is upon Me to answer you. As for that which is between you and the people, it is that you should like for the people what you like for yourself.”’”

"Shall I show you the shirt of the Qaim that he will rise in?" I said: "Yes." He then called for a container, opened it, and took out a shirt made of coarse fabric. He unfolded it, and there was blood on its left sleeve. He said: "This is the shirt of the Messenger of Allah (saw), which he was wearing on the day his tooth was struck, and it is with this shirt that the Qaim will rise." I kissed the blood and placed it on my face. Then Abu Abdullah folded the shirt and put it away.

He offered them for marriage.’”

“I heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.), say, ‘It is not harmful to one who is for al-Hajj al-Tamattu‘ (advantageous) to assume the state of Ihram in the night of al-Tarwiyah (eight of Dhu al-Hajjah) whenever possible for him, as long as he is not afraid of losing the two al-Mawqafan (stations, Mina’ and ‘Arafat).”’

“Surely the Almighty Allah has locked sin in a house. There is a door to that house which is locked. There is a key of that lock and the key to sin is wine.”

Abu Abdullah (asws) said to me: ‘Who is the harshest of the people against you?’ I said, ‘May I be sacrificed for you (asws), all of them are’. He (asws) said: ‘Do you know why that is so, O Yaqoub?’ I said, ‘I do not know, may I be sacrificed for you (asws)’. He (asws) said: ‘It is Iblees (la) who called them, so they answered him (la), and ordered them, so they obeyed him (la), and he (la) called you, so you did not answer him (la), and he (la) ordered you, so you did not obey him (la), so he (la) beckons (instigates) the people against you’.

7. A group of our companions narrated from Ahmad ibn Abi Abdullah, from his father, from Ali ibn al-Nu’man, from Ya'qub ibn Shu'ayb, from someone who informed him that Abu al-Hasan (a.s.) was brought a selection of prepared toothpicks while he was in the house of Fadl ibn Yunus. He took one piece from them and discarded the rest.

“One of the two Imam, (abu Ja‘far or abu ‘Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, has said that Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has made a house for sins. For this house He has made a door, for the door He has made a lock and for the lock He has made a key, the key to disobedience is wine.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If inside the walls there are different fruits and certain kinds are ripe, then there is no offense in buying all of it.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man to whom another man owes one hundred kur of dates and he has palm trees. He comes and says, ‘Give to me your palm trees for what you owe to me.’ It seemed as if he (the Imam) disliked it. I then asked about two men who have palm trees. One of them says to the other, ‘You can take the trees for such and such amount and give to me one-half more or less or I take the trees with the same condition. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man who bought something on credit with al-Rahn (security deposit). He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who gave impure dirhams as a loan to another man, who then paid him back with better dirhams without compulsion. He (the Imam) said, it is not unlawful and it is from Ali (a.s.).’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who owed a basket of dry dates and got back a basket of fresh dates which was less. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I then asked, ‘What will happen if he owes to me a basket of dry dates and I take from him a basket of fresh dates which is more?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful if it is a known practice between the two of you.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who had a land of al-Kharaj (of government) which he had given to a man to develop, pay its taxes and the extra of its produce were to be shared by the two of them. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who gave his land to a man which had pomegranate, palm trees or fruit bearing trees. He told him to water and develop it for one-half of the produce thereof. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who told a man to have his land for three or five years or as Allah wills. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I then asked about sharecropping. He (the Imam) then said, ‘The expenses are from you and the land is from the land-owner. Its produce is divided in portions. This is how the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, gave the people of Khaybar when they came to him. He (the Messenger of Allah) gave it to them to develop for one-half of its produce.’”

“He (the Imam) (a.s.), has said, ‘When the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, arranged the marriage of Ali and Fatimah, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, he went to see her but found her weeping. He (the Messenger of Allah) asked her, ‘What has made you weep, by Allah, had there been anyone better in my family than him I would not have given you in marriage to him, and I have not given you in marriage to him but it is Allah who has given you in marriage to him with a mahr (dower) of al- Khums (one-fifth), for as long as there are the skies and earth.’”

“Jamil narrated to me saying, ‘I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), “Is there a prayer of a particular timing that I should say at al-Safa’ and al-Marwah?” He (the Imam) replied, say, “No one other than Allah, who is One and has no partners, deserves worship. To Him belong the kingdom and all praise. He gives life and causes things to die and has power over all things - three times.’””