57 – Al-Ḥusayn narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; he said: Ḥamzah narrated to me; he said: ʿAbdān narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh informed us; he said: Sufyān informed us, from Sulaymān, from Khaythamah, from ʿAbd Allāh who said:

“A man may draw close to acquiring some venture in trade or a post of authority, until he imagines that it is already within his grasp. Then Allah mentions him above the seven heavens and says to the angel: ‘Go and turn this away from My servant, for if I make it easy for him I shall admit him into Hell.’ So the angel comes and blocks him, and it is repelled from him, while he goes on blaming his neighbours, saying, ‘So-and-so outwitted me, so-and-so got ahead of me,’ yet none turned it away from him except Allah.”