and the mountains, but they refused to carry it and shrank from it; yet man undertook to bear it—indeed he has always been unjust and deeply ignorant. (Q 33:72)

204 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The marks of the hypocrite are three (1): when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted, he betrays the trust.” Agreed upon.

In another wording: “—even if he fasts, performs the prayer, and claims to be a Muslim.”

205 – Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ related to us two reports. I have witnessed one of them, and I am waiting for the other. He told us: “Trustworthiness was first implanted in the very roots (jadhar) of men’s hearts; then the Quran was revealed, so they learned it from the Quran and they learned it from the sunnah.”

He then spoke to us about the removal of trustworthiness, saying: “A man will fall asleep, and trustworthiness will be lifted from his heart, leaving behind a trace like a tiny spot (al-wakt). He will fall asleep again, and trustworthiness will be lifted from his heart, leaving a trace like a blister (al-majl), like a live coal you roll across your foot so that it raises a blister—you see it swollen (muntabir) yet there is nothing in it.” He then picked up a pebble and rolled it across his foot and continued: “People will wake up and engage in trade, but scarcely anyone will return a trust, until it will be said, ‘In such-and-such a clan there is a trustworthy man.’ A man will be admired—‘How strong, how refined, how intelligent he is!’—while there is not in his heart a mustard-seed’s weight of faith.

“There was a time when I cared not which one of you I dealt with: if he was Muslim, his religion would make him return it to me; and if he was Christian or Jew, his tax-collector (sāʿīhi, the official over him) would make him return it to me. But today I will enter into business with none of you except so-and-so and so-and-so.” Agreed upon.

Explanation of terms: jadhar is read with a fatḥah on the jīm and a sukun on the dhāl; it means “root.” Al-wakt (with a tāʾ) denotes a slight mark. Al-majl is pronounced with a fatḥah on the mīm and a sukun on the jīm; it is the blister that appears on the hand and the like as a result of work. Muntabir means “swollen, raised.” Sāʿīhi refers to the official in authority over him.