412 — Al-Firyābī informed us, saying: Abū Wahb al-Walīd ibn Abd al-Malik al-Harrānī narrated to me, saying: Muhammad ibn Salama narrated to us, from Abū Abd al-Rahīm, from Abū Abd al-Salām al-Sāmī, from Yazīd ibn Abī Habīb, from Hanash al-Sanʿānī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Persia presented the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with a plump, well-proportioned gray mule, and she seemed ⦗830⦘ to please the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He called for wool and palm fiber, and we furnished her with a halter and bridle. He then called for a worn cloak, folded it, lifted it, and placed it upon her. He then mounted and said, “Mount up, young man”—meaning Ibn ʿAbbās. I mounted behind him, and we rode until we came abreast of al-Baqīʿ al-Gharqad. He tapped my left shoulder with his right hand and said, “Young man, be mindful of Allah, and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him before you. Do not ask anyone besides Allah, and swear only by Allah. The pens have dried ⦗831⦘ and the scrolls have been rolled up. By Him in whose hand is my soul, if all the inhabitants of heaven and earth were to unite to harm you in a way that Allah had not decreed for you, they could not do so; and if all the inhabitants of heaven and earth were to unite to benefit you in a way that Allah had not decreed for you, they could not do so.”

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, how may I attain certainty such as this before I depart this world?” He replied, “Know that whatever befalls you could never have missed you, and whatever misses you could never have befallen you.”