Letter of Abi Abdillah (a. s) to a group of Shia — Hadith 1

1. Muhammad Ibn Yaqub Al-Kulayni has narrated that, ‘Narrated to me Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father from Ibn FaddAl-from Hafs al-Mu’Adhdhin from Abu Abdullah (asws) as well as Muhammad Ibn ’Ismail Ibn Bazi’ from Muhammad Ibn Sinan from ’Ismail Ibn Jabir that - ‘Abu Abdullah (asws), wrote this letter to his (asws) companions and commanded them to study it, ponder over it, and make a pact by it, and act in accordance with. They used to keep it in their places of Prayer in their homes. So when they were free from their Prayers, they would look into it’. <br>He said, ‘Narrated to me A-Hassan Ibn Muhammad, from Ja’far Ibn Muhammad Ibn Malik al-Kufiy from al-Qasim Ibn Al-Rabi’ Al-Sahhaf from ’Ismail Ibn Mukhallad Al-Sarraj from Abu Abd Allah (asws). He said that, ‘I brought out this letter of Abu Abdullah (asws) to his (asws) companions – <br>‘In the Name of Allah (azwj), the Beneficent, the Merciful. Having said that, I (asws) ask your Lord (azwj) to grant you all good health. It is for you all to have tenderness, dignity and tranquility, and it is for you to be bashful and keep yourselves clear, just as the righteous people before you have done. It is for you to be courteous with the people of falsehood. You will bear injustices from them, and beware of disputing with them in what is between you and them. When you sit with them, and are alone with them and argue your differences with them, there is no way out for you but to sit with them and be alone with them, and argue with them by the dissimulation which Allah (azwj) has Ordered you for, that you should take to it regarding what is between you and them. So if you are tested with that from them, that they wish to harm you and you can recognise abhorrence in their faces, and if Allah (azwj), the High does not Dispel them away from you, they would rob you. And what is in their chests of enmity and hatred is much more than what they display to you. <br>Your gatherings and their gatherings are one and the same, but your spirits and their spirits are different. You will not reconcile with them and you will never lover them, ever, and they will never love you as well. Surely Allah (azwj) the High has Honoured you all with the truth and Made you to visualise it, and did not Make them to be deserving of it. <br>Be courteous to them and be patient with them, for they have no courtesy to you nor do they have patience over anything, and some of them are obsessed with tricking the others, for the enemies of Allah (azwj) have the