50 — Muhammad ibn Yahyā ibn Abī Hātim al-Azdī narrated to me, saying: Dāwūd ibn al-Muhabbar narrated to us, saying: Abbād ibn Kathīr and Hammād ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Wāsil, the freedman of Abū Uyaynah, who said:

I was with Muhammad ibn Wāsi at Marr when Atā ibn Abī Muslim came to him accompanied by his son Uthmān. He asked Muhammad, “Which deed in this world is best?”

He replied, “Keeping company with friends and conversing with brothers, provided that they accompany one another in righteousness and piety.” He continued, “At that point, Allah—Mighty and Majestic—takes away the sweetness between them, whereupon they form bonds and maintain their ties. There is no good in keeping company with friends or conversing with brothers when they are slaves to their bellies, for when they are such, they hold one another back from the Hereafter.”