the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and found him addressing the people, saying: “O people, by Allah, whatever good we possess, we shall never withhold it from you. Whoever seeks to dispense with others, Allah will make him self-sufficient; whoever refrains from asking, Allah will preserve him from need; and whoever strives to be patient, Allah will grant him patience. No one has ever been given a gift better or more abundant than patience.” I said to myself, “By the One who sent you with the truth, I shall ask you for nothing.” I then returned, and Allah granted me sufficiency and brought me good.”1

Abū Saīd thus understood from the Prophet’s words (peace and blessings be upon him) that refraining from asking him, out of self-restraint and a desire to dispense with others, was better for him than asking. If refraining from asking the prophets during their lifetimes is preferable even in times of need and poverty—and asking them when there is no need is forbidden—then what of asking those among them, or anyone else, who are absent or dead?…”2

He also said, may Allah have mercy on him: “…Asking created beings entails three harms: the harm of dependence upon other than Allah, which is a form of associating partners with Him; the harm of troubling the person being asked, which is a form of wronging created beings; and humiliation before other than Allah, which is a form of wronging oneself. It therefore encompasses all three forms of wrongdoing.”3 Thus end his words, may Allah have mercy on him.

A rightly guided Muslim knows with absolute certainty that none but Allah can benefit or harm, give or withhold. He therefore devotes exclusively to Him his fear and hope, love and petition, earnest entreaty and supplication, humility and submission. We beseech Him, Glorified is He, to enable us and you to realize this and never to entrust us to anyone besides Him. He is indeed the best to be asked, the best in whom to place one’s hope, and the best whose aid is sought.