علي بن إسماعيل

I heard Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB) say, ‘I guarantee that whoever is frugal will never become poor.’”

God’s Prophet (MGB) had blood-letting performed on Mondays and gave wheat to the person who performed the phlebotomy on him.”

When God likes someone, He will look at him. When He looks at him, He will grant him one of three gifts: a headache, fever, or eye pain.”

Whoever asks God for forgiveness seventy times after the dawn prayer will be forgiven by God on that day even though he commits seventy-thousand sins on that day. However, it will not benefit anyone who commits more than seventy-thousand sins on that day.”In another tradition we read seven-hundred sins instead of seventy-thousand sins.”

A man said to Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him: People are saying: «The one who is not of Arab origin, nor a clearly declared mawla, is an inferior. He said: And what thing is a clearly declared mawla? The man said to him: The one who owns his parents. He said: And why did they say this? He said: They said it due to the saying of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family: A people’s mawla is from themselves. He said: Glory be to Allah, has it not reached you that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: «I am the Master [1] of the one who has no master, and I am the Master of every Muslim, Arab and non-Arab»? Hence, the one who befriends the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, will he not be from the self of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family? He then said: Which of the two is more honored: the one who is from the self of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family; or the one who is from the self of an gross Arabian who urinates on his heels? Furthermore, he, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: The one who enters into Islam willingly is better than the one who enters out of fear. The hypocrites entered out of fear, whereas the mawali [2] entered willingly.

The Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) was asked, ‘How much distance is there between right and wrong?’ He (MGB) replied, ‘As much as four fingers.’ The Commander of the Faithful Ali (MGB) put his hand between his ear and eyes and said, ‘What you see by the eyes is right, but what you hear by the ears is wrong.’”

“Fear God regarding two weak ones meaning orphans and women.”

“I heard Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB) say, ‘A man would not be a scholar until he does not pay too much attention for which of his two shirts are more worn out or what he eats to overcome his hunger.’”

“Once abu ‘Ukashah ibn Mihsan al-Asadiy visited abu Ja‘far (a.s.), then grapes were brought for him and he (the Imam) said to him, ‘An old man and small children eat one piece after one piece. Three and three pieces or four pieces at a time eating is the manner of a person who thinks that he cannot become satisfied but you can eat two pieces at a time because it is preferable.’”

“One who seeks forgiveness of Allah seventy times after the Morning Prayer Allah forgives him even if he has committed seventy thousand sins in the previous day and one who has committed more than seventy thousand sins there is no good for him.”

I said to him: A man who bequeaths with something of his property? Then he said to me: (It is mentioned) In the Book of Ali, peace be upon him: Something of his property is (equivalent to) one of six.

with regards to a man who bequeaths with a part of his property, that a part is one of ten, because Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He, says: «Then place upon each mountain of them, a part» (2:260) and the mountains were ten and the birds were four, and so he placed on each mountain of them, a part.

I said: And what is arbi’aa’? He said: Drinking, and nitaf is that which is excessive from water. However, its acceptance is by silver, gold, halves, thirds and fourths.

I heard him saying that, “Quarrelling destroys religion, puts an end to good deeds, and leaves nothing but doubt as its heir.”

“The old man and the small boy eat grasps one piece at a time and one who is anxious for filling himself up eats several pieces at a time but you should take two pieces at a time because it is mustahab (preferable) to do so.” He then asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), “Why do you not arrange a marriage for abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) who has grown up already?” He has said that before abu Ja‘far (a.s.) there was a bag filled with money and he said, “Very soon traders will come from Barbar and find accommodation in the house of Maymun and with the money in this bag we will buy for him a slave girl.” The narrator has said that time went by and one day we went to see abu Ja‘far (a.s.) and he said, “Do you want me to tell you about the traders of whom I spoke to you a few days ago? He has just arrived. Go and with the money in this bag buy a slave girl from him.” The narrator has said, “We went to the trader but he had sold all of his slave girls accept two of them who were ill and one of them was more beautiful than the other. We said that we would like to see them. Then we saw them and asked as to for how much he would sell the more beautiful one.” He said, “Seventy Dinars is the price.” We asked him to reduce the price but he said that he will not accept anything less than seventy Dinars. We then said, “We will give all the money that is in the bag but we do not know how much is in it.” There was a man with gray hair and beard who, said, “Open the bag and weigh it.” The trader said, “Do not open because if it would be less then seventy Dinars I will not accept.” The old man said, “Come close and we went closer and opened the bag and weighed the Dinars in it and there were exactly seventy Dinars no more and no less. We brought the slave girl to abu Ja‘far (a.s.) and Ja‘far (a.s.) was also there. We informed abu Ja‘far (a.s.) of the whole story and he offered thanks to Allah and praised Him and then he asked the girl, “What is your name?” She said, “My name is Humayda.” He said, “You are Humayda in this world and a praised one in the next life. Tell me more, “Are you virgin or not virgin?” She said, “I am virgin.” He said, “How can that be true? The traders corrupt whatever may come in their hands.” She said, “He would come to me and would sit next to me just as man and woman would do but Allah would make a man with gray hairs and beard would appear and would slap him until he would go away from me. This happened several times on his part and on the part of the man with gray hairs and beard.” The Imam (a.s.) said, “O Ja‘far (a.s.) take her for yourself.” She then give birth to the best person on earth who was Musa ibn Ja‘far (a.s.).”

Abu Al-Hasan Imam Musa ibn Jafar Al-Kadhim (as) made this endowment: "This is what Musa ibn Jafar (as) has endowed. He (as) has endowed all His (as) land in such and such a place. The boundary of the land is such and such. He (as) has endowed all of it, including its palm trees, land, water channels, water, mills, rights, irrigation rights from the water, and every right associated with it, whether it be in an elevated or low area, across its width or length, its easements, open spaces, conduits, offshoots, streams, developed or undeveloped parts. He (as) has endowed all these rights upon his direct descendants, both male and female. The administrator shall distribute the produce that Allah (swt), the Mighty and Majestic, brings forth from it, in a way that is sufficient for its maintenance and facilities. After setting aside thirty date palms, the remainder shall be distributed among the needy of the village and the descendants of such and such, with the male receiving the share of two females. If any woman from the daughters of so-and-so gets married, she shall have no share in this endowment until she returns unmarried. If she returns, she shall receive a share equal to that of those daughters who have not married. If any of the descendants of so-and-so passes away leaving behind children, then his children shall inherit his share in accordance with the rule of 'the male receiving the share of two females.'" Similar to the conditions set by so-and-so among his direct descendants, if any of the descendants of so-and-so dies without leaving behind children, his share shall revert to the beneficiaries of the endowment. None of my daughters' children shall have any right in this endowment unless their fathers are from my direct descendants. No one shall have any right in my endowment as long as my descendants and their offspring remain. If all my descendants and their offspring cease to exist, the endowment shall be transferred to the descendants of my father from my mother, as long as any of them remain, following the same conditions I have set for my descendants and offspring. If the descendants of my father from my mother perish, leaving no one, the endowment shall pass to the descendants of my father and their offspring, according to the same conditions I have set for my descendants and offspring. If the descendants of my father also perish, leaving no one, then my endowment shall be passed on successively to the nearest relatives, one after another, until it ultimately returns to Allah (swt), the true inheritor, and He (swt) is the best of inheritors. So-and-so has endowed this endowment while in good health, as an absolute and irrevocable charity, free from any condition or revocation, solely seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt). This endowment has been made for the sake of the Hereafter, and it is not permissible for any believer who believes in Allah (swt) and the Last Day to sell it, purchase it, gift it, or transfer it in any form. No one should alter anything from it until Allah (swt) inherits the earth and all that is on it. He (as) entrusted the administration of this endowment to Ali and Ibrahim. If one of them passes away, then Al-Qasim shall join the remaining one. If one of them passes away, then Ismail shall join the remaining one. If one of them passes away, then Al-Abbas shall join the remaining one. If one of them passes away, then the eldest of my offspring shall join the remaining one. If there remains only one among my descendants, he shall be the one responsible for managing it.

“I once heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), saying, ‘Beware of red camels because the life of such camels is the shortest.’”