This was narrated by Ibn ʿAsākir (1) and by al-Khaṭīb.

Abū al-Faraj Muʿafā ibn Zakariyyā al-Jarīrī said: “Badr ibn al-Haytham al-Ḥaḍramī related to us; ʿAlī ibn al-Mundhir al-Ṭarīqī (2) related to us; ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī related to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Abū Rajāʾ, a man from Tustar, related to us; Shuʿbah ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Wāsiṭī related to us, from Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī, from al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar: that ʿAlī asked his son—meaning al-Ḥasan—about certain aspects of chivalrous conduct (murūʾah), saying:

‘My son, what is sadād (rectitude)?’
He replied, ‘Father, rectitude is to repel the objectionable with what is good.’

He asked, ‘And what is sharaf (nobility)?’
He answered, ‘To do good to one’s clan and to shoulder their liabilities.’

He asked, ‘And what is murūʾah (true manliness)?’
He answered, ‘Chastity and the proper tending of one’s wealth (3).’

He asked, ‘And what is danāʾah (baseness) (4)?’
He answered, ‘To fixate on trifles and to withhold paltry rights.’

He asked, ‘And what is luʾm (meanness)?’
He answered, ‘To guard oneself while exposing one’s household.’

He asked, ‘And what is samāḥah (generosity)?’
He answered, ‘To give in times of hardship and of ease alike.’

He asked, ‘And what is shuḥḥ (stinginess)?’
He answered, ‘To see what is in your own hand as a mark of honor and what you spend as sheer loss.’

He asked, ‘And what is ikhāʾ (brotherhood)?’
He answered, ‘Loyalty in both adversity and prosperity.’

He asked, ‘And what is jubn (cowardice)?’
He answered, ‘Boldness toward a friend and retreat before an enemy.’

He asked, ‘And what is ghanīmah (the true booty)?’
He answered, ‘Aspiration for piety and detachment from the world—[that is the cool, effortless booty] (5).’

He asked, ‘And what is ḥilm (forbearance)?’
He answered, ‘To swallow one’s anger and master the self.’

He asked, ‘And what is ghinā (wealth)?’
He answered, ‘Contentment of the soul with whatever Allah has allotted it, even if scant—[for real wealth is the wealth of the soul] (6).’

He asked, ‘And what is faqr (poverty)?’
He answered, ‘The soul’s voracious craving for everything.’

He asked, ‘And what is manaʿah (strength)?’
He answered, ‘Dauntless courage and standing up to the strongest of men.’

He asked, ‘And what is dhull (humiliation)?’
He answered, ‘Panic when the moment of truth arrives.’