who said: I heard Abū al-Qāsim—peace and blessings be upon him—say:
“Allah said to Jesus son of Mary, ‘I shall raise up after you a nation who, when something they love befalls them, offer praise and thanks, and when something they dislike befalls them, seek reward and remain patient, though they have neither forbearance nor knowledge.’ Jesus said, ‘My Lord, how can this be when they have neither forbearance nor knowledge?’ He said, ‘I shall grant them of My forbearance and My knowledge.’”
Another example is His choosing, glorified be He, the best and noblest of all places and lands: the Sacred City. He chose it for His House (1), made it a place where His servants perform their rites, and required them to come to it from near and far, by every distant road. They enter it only in humility, reverence and submission, with their heads uncovered and divested of worldly attire. He made it a secure sanctuary where no blood may be shed, no tree therein (2) may be cut down, no game may be disturbed, and no fresh vegetation (3) may be cut. Its lost property may not be picked up to claim ownership of it (4), but solely to announce its discovery.