is maintained by waraʿ (scrupulous piety) and lost through ṭamaʿ (covetous desire).
ʿAlī replied, “That is correct; now continue your preaching.”
It is said that this storyteller was Nuf al-Bakālī (1).

A man once said to Shurayh, “You are always reminding others of Allah’s favor upon them while forgetting the favor He has shown you.”
Shurayh answered, “By Allah, I actually envy you for the blessings I see you enjoy.”
The man retorted, “May Allah let that benefit you in no way and cause me no harm!” (2)

Jarīr related from al-Shaybānī, from al-Shaʿbī: ʿUmar bought a horse from a man on the condition that he could inspect it first. He took the horse, rode off with it, and the animal went lame. ʿUmar then said to the seller, “Take your horse back.”
The man replied, “No!”
ʿUmar said, “Then let us put the matter before an arbiter.”
The man agreed, “Yes—Shurayh.”
ʿUmar asked, “Who is Shurayh?”
He answered, “Shurayh the Iraqi.”
So the two of them went to Shurayh and recounted what had happened. Shurayh said, “Commander of the Believers, either return the horse in the same state in which you received it, or keep it for the price you paid.”
ʿUmar exclaimed, “Judgment is nothing but this!” and then added, “Travel to Kūfa, for I appoint you its judge.” It was the very first day ʿUmar had ever met him (3).

Hishām ibn Muḥammad al-Kalbī (4) said: A man from the descendants of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ told me that Shurayh had a son who used to call the dogs (5) and set them on one another. Shurayh therefore asked for ink and paper and wrote to the boy’s tutor:

He quit the prayer to chase after the hounds,
Seeking their brawls among the vile and base;
When he comes to you, restrain him with rebuke,
Admonish him as a wise instructor should.
And if you think to strike him, use a rod;
If you have struck three times, then keep him in.
Know that, whatever effort you expend, his soul—
Along with the burden you lift from me—is the dearest of souls.

Shurayh also narrated—from ʿUmar, from ʿĀʾishah—that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to her:
“O ʿĀʾishah, ‘Indeed, those who divide their religion and become sects…’ (Q 6:159). They are the people of innovation (ahl al-bidʿah), the people of whims, and the people of misguidance within this community. Every sinner has a path to repentance except the people of whims and innovation; I am free of them, and they are free of me.” (6)

This ḥadīth is weak and rare. It was transmitted by Muḥammad ibn Muṣfā from Baqiyyah, from Shuʿbah—or someone else—from Mujālid, from al-Shaʿbī. Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd is alone in narrating it through this chain, and there is another defect in it as well.

Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī also reported—from al-Ḥasan, from Shurayh, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“You will be sifted until you become the dregs of people: their covenants confused, their trusts in ruins.”
Someone asked, “What should we do then, O Messenger of Allah?”
He replied, “You act upon what you recognize as true and you leave [what you do not].”