2. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Fadal from ‘Asim ibn Humayd from abu Hamza al-Thumali from abu Ja’far (a.s.) who has said the following: “The Messenger of Allah addressed the people during his farewell (last) visit to Makka, ‘O people, I swear by Allah, everything that can take you closer to paradise and farther away from hell I have commanded you all to follow. Everything that may take you closer to hell and farther away from paradise I have prohibited you to do. You must know that the trusted spirit has inspired me that no soul dies before his supply of sustenance is completely exhausted. Be pious before Allah and do your best in search of means of sustenance. Do not allow laziness to overcome you in your search to make a living, or lead you to make a living through improper means; nothing is achievable from what is with Allah except through obedience to Him.’”

3. Abu Ali al-Ash’ari has narrated from Muhammad ibn Salim and Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from his father all from Ahmad ibn al-Nadr from ‘Amr ibn Shamir from Jabir from abu Ja’far (a.s.) who has said the following: “O Jabir, do people think just claiming to be our Shi’a and saying they love us ( Ahl al-Bayt) is enough for their salvation? I swear by Allah, of our Shi’a are only those who are pious before Allah and obey Him. No one, O Jabir, would know them except by their humbleness, submissiveness, trustworthiness, their speaking frequently of Allah, fasting, prayer, virtuous deeds toward parents, good relations with neighbors, the needy, the destitute, the heavily indebted, the orphans, by their truthfulness, recitation of the Holy Quran, and restraining of their tongues except for the good of the people and their being trusted among the people of their tribe in all things. I (Jabir) then said, ‘O descendent of the Messenger of Allah, today we do not find anyone with such qualities.’ The Imam said, ‘O Jabir, do not allow (false) religions confuse you. One should not think, since he loves Ali (a.s.) and supports him, thereafter he does not have to be active in anything. If one says he loves the Messenger of Allah who is better than Ali (a.s.) but does not follow his way of life or practice his tradition, his love as such is of no benefit for him. You must be pious before Allah and work to achieve things that exist with Allah. There is no family relation between one and Allah. The most beloved one to Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, is the most noble before Him, the most pious ones before Him and the most obedient ones to Him. O Jabir, I swear by Allah, nothing helps one to become nearer to Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, except obedience to Him. There is no immunity from hell and no one possesses any authority over Allah. Only those who obey Allah, they are our supporters. Whoever is disobedient to Allah, is our enemy. Our guardianship applies only to those who do good deeds and maintain restraint over their desires for worldly things.’”

4. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Muhammad ibn Isma’il from Fadl ibn Shadhan all from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Hisham ibn al-Hakam from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) who has said the following: “On the Day of Judgment certain people raise their necks, approach the door of paradise and knock on it. They then will be asked, ‘Who are you?’ They will say, ‘We are the people of patience.’ They will then be asked, ‘In what matters did you exercise patience?’ They will answer, ‘We exercised patience in obeying Allah and against disobedience to Allah.’ Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will say, ‘They have spoken the truth, allow them to enter into paradise. ’ This is in the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, ‘It is those who exercise patience that receive their reward without being asked to clear any accounts.’” (39:10)

5. Muhammad ibn Yahya from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Sinan from Fudayl ibn ‘Uthman from ‘Ubaydah from abu Ja’far (a.s.) who has said the following: “Amir al-Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) (a.s.) would say, ‘A deed with piety is never considered a little deed. How could it be considered little when it is the very thing with which deeds are accepted?”’

6. Hamid ibn Ziyad has narrated from al-Hassan ibn Muhammad ibn Sama’a from certain individuals of his people from Aban from ‘Amr ibn Khalid from abu Ja’far (a.s.) who has said the following: “Abu Ja’far (a.s.) has said, ‘O the community of Shi’a, Shi’a of Muhammad (a.s.) be the central support so that both al- Ghali and al-Tali refer to you.’ A man from Ansar (people of Madina) called Sa’d, said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, what is the meaning of al-GhaliV The Imam said, ‘They are the people who say about us what we do not say about ourselves. Thus, they are not of our people and we are not of their people.’ The man then asked, ‘Who are al-TaliV The Imam said, ‘They are those who search for good. They receive good instructions (from our Shi’a) and are rewarded for it.’ The Imam then turned to us and said, ‘I swear by Allah that we do not possess any amnesty from Allah and there is no family relation between Allah and us nor do we possess any authority over Allah. We do not seek nearness to Allah through any other means but obedience to Him. Whoever of you is obedient to Allah it (our guardianship, Wilayah ) will benefit him, and whoever of you is disobedient to Allah our guardianship, Wilayah, will not benefit him. What is the matter with you? Do not be misled! What is the matter with you? Do not be misled!”’

7. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Isa from Mufaddal ibn ‘Umar who has said the following: “Once I was in the presence of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.). We spoke about deeds and I said, ‘My deeds are the weakest.’ The Imam said, ‘Calm down. Ask forgiveness from Allah.’ Then the Imam said to me, ‘A little deed with piety is better than a great deal of deeds without piety.’ I then asked, ‘Can there be a great deal of deeds without piety?’ The Imam said, ‘Yes, it is true. It is like a man who feeds people, who is kind to his neighbors and entertains people at his home, but when a door to unlawful matters opens he enters such a door. Such are deeds without piety. There can be another person who does not have such deeds but when a door to unlawful matters opens he does not enter into such doors.’”