We came to him; I knocked at the door, he came out, and the Commander of the Faithful spoke with him for a while, then asked, “Are you in debt?”
He replied, “Yes.”
Harun said, “Abu al-‘Abbas, settle his debt.”

When we left (1) he remarked, “Your companion has done nothing for me. Find me someone else I can question.”
I said, “Al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad is here.”
He said, “Take us to him.”

We reached him and found him standing in prayer, reciting a verse and repeating it. Harun said, “Knock on the door.”
I knocked. He asked, “Who is that?”
I said, “Respond to the Commander of the Faithful.”
He replied, “What have I to do with the Commander of the Faithful?”
I said, “Glory be to Allah! Is obedience not required of you?”

He descended, opened the door, then ascended to the upper room, extinguished the lamp, and withdrew into a corner. We entered and began groping for him with our hands; Harun’s hand reached him before mine, and he said, “What a hand this is—how soft it is—if only it is spared Allah’s punishment tomorrow!”

I said to myself, “Tonight he will speak to him with words that are pure, from a God-fearing heart.”

Harun said to him, “Accept—may Allah have mercy on you—the mission for which we have come to you.”

He replied, “When ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz assumed the caliphate, he summoned Salim ibn ‘Abd Allah, Muhammad ibn Ka‘b, and Raja’ ibn Haywah and said to them, ‘I have been afflicted with this ordeal; advise me.’
He counted the caliphate a trial, whereas you and your companions reckon it a blessing.

Salim said to him, ‘If you desire salvation, fast from the world and let death be the meal with which you break that fast.’

Ibn Ka‘b said to him, ‘If you wish to escape Allah’s punishment, then let the eldest of the Muslims be to you a father, those in the middle brothers, and the youngest children: revere your father, honour your brother, and show tenderness to your child.’

Raja’ said to him, ‘If you want safety from Allah’s punishment, love for the Muslims what you love for yourself and hate for them what you hate for yourself; after that, die when you wish. I tell you this, yet I fear for you most intensely on a day (2) when feet will slip. So do you have—may Allah have mercy on you—anyone who…’