and as for the one who has no father, that is Jesus—peace be upon him; concerning “a thing,” it is the intelligent person who acts by the light of his own mind; “half a thing” is the one who does possess reason yet follows the opinion of another; while “nothing” is the one who lacks understanding altogether and does not avail himself of another’s judgment.
He then filled the vial with water and said, “This is the seed of every thing.”
The king of Rome was greatly impressed by that (1). Allah knows best.

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Ibn ʿAbbās was entrusted (2) with supervising the rites of Hajj in the year 35 AH by order of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān while the latter was under siege; during his absence ʿUthmān was killed. Ibn ʿAbbās was with ʿAlī at the Battle of the Camel, commanded the left flank on the Day of Ṣiffīn, took part in the fighting against the Khārijites, and was appointed governor of Basra by ʿAlī. Whenever he left the city he deputized Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī for leading the prayers and Ziyād ibn Abī Sufyān for fiscal matters. The people of Basra considered themselves fortunate to have him: he would instruct their scholars, teach their uninformed, admonish their wrongdoers, and provide for their poor. He remained in office until ʿAlī died—though some say ʿAlī removed him shortly before his death.

Later Ibn ʿAbbās visited Muʿāwiyah, who honored, welcomed, and held him in great esteem, regularly posing difficult questions to which Ibn ʿAbbās would reply without delay. Muʿāwiyah used to say, “I have never seen anyone produce an answer faster than Ibn ʿAbbās.” When news arrived of the death of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās happened to be with Muʿāwiyah, who offered him an exemplary expression of condolence; Ibn ʿAbbās answered in kind, as related earlier. Muʿāwiyah then sent his son Yazīd, who sat before Ibn ʿAbbās and delivered a brief yet eloquent condolence, for which Ibn ʿAbbās thanked him—this, too, has been mentioned above.

When Muʿāwiyah died and al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī decided to set out for Iraq, Ibn ʿAbbās emphatically forbade him and reproached him in the strongest terms; Ibn ʿAbbās—whose sight had faded in his later years—even tried to seize al-Ḥusayn’s garments. After al-Ḥusayn was killed, Ibn ʿAbbās grieved for him intensely and remained confined to his house, saying:
“Tongue, speak good and you will succeed; be silent about evil and you will be safe, for if you do not, you will regret it.”

A man called Jundub came to him and said, “Advise me.” Ibn ʿAbbās replied:
“I enjoin upon you to affirm Allah’s oneness and work for His sake, to establish the prayer and pay the zakāh; every good you perform thereafter will be accepted from you and raised up to Allah. O Jundub, each moment only brings you nearer to your death; therefore perform every prayer as though bidding the world farewell. Awake each morning as a stranger, a traveler—for you are bound for the graves. Weep over your sin, repent of your offense, and let this world be of less worth to you than the thong of your sandal, for it is as though you had already left it behind and come before Allah’s justice. What you leave behind will not benefit you; only your deeds will avail you (3).”