372 — Al-Firyābī informed us: Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shayba narrated to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Hubāb said: Muawiya ibn Sālih narrated to us: Ayyūb Abū Zayd al-Himsī narrated to me, from Ubāda ibn al-Walīd ibn Ubāda ibn al-Sāmit, from his father, who went in to see Ubāda while he was ill and could see the signs of death upon him. He said, “Father, counsel me, and give me your most earnest advice.” He replied, “Sit down. You will never taste faith or attain its true reality until you believe in the divine decree, both its good and its evil.” I asked, “How can I know its good and its evil?” He replied, “Know that whatever missed you could never have befallen you, and whatever befell you could never have missed you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say, ‘The first thing Allah created was the Pen. He said to it, “Write,” and at that very moment it wrote all that would come to pass until the Day of Resurrection. If you die upon anything other than this, you will enter the Fire.’”