Hadith record

9. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr who has said the following: “Once I said to al-Rida (a.s.) ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause. Pray to Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, to grant me lawful sustenance.’ The Imam said, ‘Do you know what lawful sustenance is?’ I said, ‘That which we earn and is pure.’ The Imam said that Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) would say, ‘Lawful sustenance is the sustenance of the chosen ones.’ The Imam then instructed me to say, ‘I plead before You for Your vast sustenance.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.