57 – ʿAbdullāh narrated to us—Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Rāzī related, Uthmān ibn Muṭīʿ transmitted, and Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah reported—that Abū al-Zinād said:

“When prophethood came to an end, and the prophets—who had been the pegs of the earth—were gone, Allah replaced them with forty men from the nation of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, who are called the Abdāl. No one among them dies without Allah raising up another to succeed him, and they are the pegs of the earth. The hearts of thirty of them rest upon the same certainty that Abraham possessed.

They have not outstripped people through abundant prayer, plentiful fasting, impressive displays of humility, or a naturally fine temperament; rather, by the sincerity of their scrupulousness, the excellence of their intentions, the soundness of their hearts, and their sincere counsel to all Muslims in pursuit of Allah’s pleasure—through patience, goodness, righteousness, forbearing insight, and humility free from abasement.

Know that they never curse anything, harm anyone, look down on those beneath them, belittle them, or envy anyone above them. They are neither ostentatiously devout, nor feignedly ascetic, nor self-admiring. They neither love the world nor love for the sake of the world. They are not in fear today only to lapse into heedlessness tomorrow.”