of all His servants, so He chose them for the companionship of His Prophet and for establishing His religion. Whatever the believers perceive as good is good in Allah’s sight, and whatever the believers perceive as evil is evil in Allah’s sight.

ʿAbd Allah b. Masʿūd said:

“Whoever among you seeks a model to follow, let him follow those who have already passed away, for the living are never safe from trial. They are the Companions of Muhammad—this community’s purest of hearts, the deepest in knowledge, and the least given to affectation. They are a people Allah selected to accompany His Prophet and to uphold His religion. Acknowledge their due, cling to their guidance, for they were upon the straight path.”

When a person is one of the greatest—or indeed the greatest—of his generation in truthfulness and righteousness, this will inevitably become apparent in the slips of his tongue and the expressions of his face, in a way that befits such integrity. Likewise, a lying disbeliever will inevitably betray himself on his face and in the slips of his tongue with signs that suit his falsehood. Sometimes these indicators appear at the very moment he conveys his report, and at other times they surface outside that particular context. If a man comes and says, “The ruler, the governor, the judge, the shaykh, or so-and-so has sent me to you with such-and-such,” the manner in which he presents his claim and his overall bearing may itself be accompanied by clues that reveal whether he is truthful or lying—even if he was well-known beforehand.