439 — And al-Firyābī informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn Musaffā narrated to us, saying: Baqiyyah narrated to us, saying: Muʿāwiyah ibn Saʿīd narrated to me, saying: ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Sāʾib ⦗865⦘ narrated to me, from ʿAtāʾ ibn Abī Rabāh, who said:

I asked al-Walīd ibn ʿUbādah ibn al-Sāmit, “What final counsel did your father give you when death approached him?”

He replied, “He summoned me and said, ‘My son, I counsel you to fear Allah. Know that you will never fear Allah until you believe in Allah. And know that you will neither believe in Allah, nor be granted the taste of true faith, nor attain knowledge until you believe in divine decree—both its good and its evil.’

“I asked, ‘Father, how am I to believe in divine decree in its entirety, both its good and its evil?’

“He replied, ‘Know that whatever befalls you could never have missed you, and whatever misses you could never have befallen you. My son, I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: “The first thing Allah Most High created was the Pen. He said, ‘Write.’ The Pen asked, ‘What shall I write, my Lord?’ He said, ‘Write the divine decree.’ Thereupon, at that very moment, the Pen recorded all that had been and all that would come to pass, forever.”’”