14 — Al-Firyābī also narrated to us, saying: Maimūn ibn al-Asbagh and Abū Mas‘ūd Ahmad ibn al-Furāt narrated to us; they both said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Sālih Abū Sālih narrated to us, saying: Mu‘āwiya ibn Sālih narrated to us that ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Jubair related to him, from his father, from al-Nawwās ibn Sam‘ān, who said: The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Allah has set forth a parable: a straight path ⦗295⦘, with two walls along either side and open doors in them, over which curtains have been lowered. At the entrance to the path is a caller who says, ‘O people, enter the path—all of you—and do not deviate.’ Another caller calls from above the path. Whenever anyone wishes to open one of those doors, he says, ‘Woe to you! Do not open it, for if you open it, you will enter through it.’ The path is Islam; the curtains are the limits set by Allah; the open doors are the things Allah has forbidden; the caller at the head of the path is the Book of Allah; and the caller above the path is Allah’s admonisher in the heart of every Muslim.”