114 — Abū Muhammad al-Atakī, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Sālih, narrated to me: Abū Hārūn, an associate of Abū Bakr ibn Ayyāsh, narrated to me, from Muhriz al-Taymī, from Mujāhid, from Ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with him and his father—who said: I heard him say:

“Five things are better than black steeds kept ready for riding: Do not speak about what does not concern you, for such speech is superfluous, and I cannot be sure that you will escape sin. Do not speak even about what does concern you until you find the proper occasion for it, for many a person has spoken about something that concerned him but did so at the wrong time and thereby fell into difficulty. Do not argue with either a forbearing man or a fool: the forbearing man will come to detest you, while the fool will harm you. Speak of your brother in his absence as you would like him to speak of you, and pardon him as you would like him to ⦗96⦘ pardon you. Act as a man who knows that he will be rewarded for doing good and held accountable for wrongdoing.”