Guidance Is From Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High

A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Muhammad ibn Isma‘il from Isma‘il al-Sarraj from ibn Muskan from Thabit in Sa‘id who said the following: “Once, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘O Thabit, why do you bother about people? Leave them alone and do not call anyone to accept your belief (the belief of the Shi’a Muslims). I swear by Allah that even if all the people in the heavens and earth come together to guide a person whom Allah wants not to guide they will never be able to guide him. If all the people in the heavens and on earth will come together to misguide a person whom Allah wants to guide, they will never be able to misguide him. Leave the people alone. No one should say, ‘O my uncle, my brother, the son of my uncle and my neighbor.’ When Allah wants good for a person He cleanses his spirit. He then does not hear any lawful thing but that he knows it and no unlawful thing but that he dislikes it. Then Allah places a word in his heart with which He organizes all his affairs.’”

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

1. Ali has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Sayf ibn ‘ Amira from Sa‘d ibn Tarif who has said the following: “Abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said, ‘One who prepares the grave for a believing person is like one who provides him a desirable dwelling up to the Day of Judgment.”’

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

1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from a man from Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar who has said the following: “I once said to abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘A man asked for my advice about performing al- Hajj, and he was in a weak condition; so I hinted for him not go for al-Hajj. He (the Imam) said, ‘What can protect you from living ill for a whole year!’ He (the narrator) has said, ‘I suffered from illness for a whole year. ‘“

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

1. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Faddal from ibn Bukayr from certain persons of our people who have said the following: “Abu ‘ Abd Allah, or abu Ja‘far (a.s.), prohibited marriage of two women without assigning any mahr (dower) for anyone of them except that this agrees for marriage because of the other woman’s agreeing to marry because she (the other woman) has done so.’”

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

Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Muhammad ibn Humran from Sulayman ibn Khalid from abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), who said the following: “When Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, wants good for a person He places a point of light in his heart and opens the ears of his heart and assigns an angel to support him. When He wants bad fortune for a person He places a dark black spot in his heart, closes the ears of his heart and assigns a Satan to mislead him. The Imam (a.s.), then recited the following verse of the Holy Quran. ‘Allah will open the hearts of whomever He wants to guide to Islam, but He will constrict the chest of one whom He has led astray, as though he were climbing high up into the sky. . . .’” (6:125)

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

2. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Salih ibn al-Sindiy from Ja’far ibn Bashir from Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim who has said the following: “I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘In Islam al-Jalb, al-Janb and Shighar are not permissible. Shighar is one man’s giving in marriage his daughter or sister to another man to marry this man’s daughter or sister without any amount of mahr (dower) being assigned to anyone of them except that this person marries that person and the other person marries the other person.’” Al-Jalb means that a tax collector commands the tax payers to deliver what they owe to him even if he is far away. Al-Janb means in horse racing keeping of a spare horse on the side so that when one horse is exhausted the second horse can continue the race.

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

A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Faddal from Ali ibn ‘Uqba from his father who said the following: “I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘Leave your affairs to Allah and do not leave them to the people. Whatever is for Allah it is for Him. Whatever is for people it will not rise up to Allah. Do not quarrel with people about your belief; quarrelling sickens the heart. Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, said to His Prophet (Muhammad) (a.s.), ‘you cannot guide whomever you love, but Allah guides whomever He wants and knows best those who seek guidance.’ (28:56) ‘(Muhammad), do you force people to have faith?’ (10:99) “Leave the people alone; people learn from people and you have learned from the Messenger of Allah (a.s.). I heard my father (a.s.), saying, ‘When Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, writes for a person to enter in this belief he will do so faster than the flight of a bird to its nest.’”

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

3. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from ibn Jumhur from his father in a marfu’ manner who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, prohibited marriage in the manner of Shighar which is giving away and it is done by one man’s saying to the other man, ‘Give your daughter in marriage to me so that I give my daughter in marriage to you and that there will be no mahr (dower) for anyone of them.’”

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