1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from Dawud ibn Kathir from abu ‘Ubaydah al-Hadhdha’ from abu Ja’far (a.s.) who has said the following: “The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, has said, “The doers of good deeds must not rely on their deeds alone to receive rewards from Me. If they strive and tire themselves (for a lifetime) to worship Me they still have shortcomings in their worship. They cannot reach the essence of worshipping Me to find what they look for. They cannot receive My grace and bounties in My paradise and high ranks near Me without My kindness. They must rely on My kindness, hope for My additional rewards, be comfortable in their hopefulness about Me. My kindness and mercy, in such cases, will reach them, from Me My gratification and forgiveness will close up to them, and My pardon will provide them cover. I am Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, and thus I have named Myself.’””

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

2. Ibn Mahbub has narrated from Jamil ibn Salih from Burayd ibn Mu’awiyah from abu Ja’far (a.s.) who has said the following: “We have found in the book of Ali (a.s.) that the Messenger of Allah said from the pulpit, ‘I swear by the One besides Whom no one else deserves to be worshipped, a believer never receives any good in this life and in the hereafter, except because of his hopefulness toward Allah, his confidence in Allah, his good moral behavior and his abstaining from backbiting the believers. I swear by the One besides Whom no one else deserves to be worshipped, Allah does not punish a believer after his repenting and asking forgiveness except because of his despair toward Allah, his shortcoming in his hope from Allah, his bad moral behaviors and his backbiting of the believers. I swear by the One besides Whom no one else deserves to be worshipped that, hope of a believer does not exist without Allah running his affairs according to the hopeful intentions of the believer. It is because nobility is of the attributes of Allah; in His hand is all good, and He considers Himself indebted toward His believing servants, who are hopeful about Him, not to allow their hope remain fruitless. Therefore, be hopeful about Allah and be interested with Him.’”

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

3. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Muhammad ibn Isma’il ibn Bazi’ from abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) who has said the following: “Be hopeful about Allah, because Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said, ‘I deal according to the thinking of My believing servant toward Me. I am good to him if he thinks good about Me and I am harmful to him if he thinks Me harmful.’”

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

4. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad al- Minqari from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna who has said the following: “I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘To be hopeful toward Allah means not to have hope in anyone except Allah and not to be afraid of anything but one’s sins.’”

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