424 — Al-Firyābī also informed us, saying: Maymūn ibn al-Asbagh al-Nasībī narrated to me, saying: Abū Sālih ʿAbd Allah ibn Sālih narrated to me, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Sālih narrated to me that Abū al-Zāhiriyya narrated to him, from Kathīr ibn Murra, from Ibn al-Daylamī—meaning ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Daylamī—who met Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqās and said to him, “I have come to doubt some aspects of predestination. Tell me about it, so that perhaps Allah Most High may grant me relief through you.”

He replied, “Yes, my nephew. If Allah Most High were to punish the inhabitants of heaven and earth, He would punish them without being unjust to them. If He were to have mercy on them, His mercy toward them would be better for them than their deeds. And if a man possessed an amount of gold equal to Mount Uhud ⦗849⦘ and spent it in the cause of Allah until he had exhausted it all, yet did not believe in predestination—its good and its evil—none of it would be accepted from him. You would also do well to go to ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd.”

Ibn al-Daylamī therefore went to ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd and said to him the same thing he had said to Saʿd. He gave him the same answer as Saʿd had given him, and Ibn Masʿūd said to him, “You would also do well to meet Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.”

Ibn al-Daylamī therefore went to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and said to him the same thing he had said to Ibn Masʿūd. Ubayy gave him the same answer as his two companions and said to him, “You would also do well to meet Zayd ibn Thābit.”

Ibn al-Daylamī therefore went to Zayd ibn Thābit and said to him, “I have come to doubt some aspects of predestination. Tell me about it, so that perhaps Allah may grant me relief from it through you.”

Zayd replied, “Yes, my nephew. I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘If Allah Most High were to punish the inhabitants of heaven and earth, He would punish them without being unjust to them. If He were to have mercy on them, His mercy would be better for them than their deeds. And if a man possessed an amount of gold equal to Mount Uhud and spent it in the cause of Allah until he had exhausted it all, yet did not believe in predestination—its good and its evil—he would enter the Fire.’”