Ibn Abī al-Dunyā reported: “ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Yashkūrī told us, from Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Jabali, from Ḥafṣ ibn Sulaymān Abū Muqātil, from ʿAwn ibn Abī Shaddād, from al-Ḥasan, who said that Luqmān spoke to his son: “O my son, righteous action can be sustained only by yaqīn (firm conviction); whoever weakens his yaqīn, his deeds will weaken. And if Satan approaches you by means of doubt and suspicion, overcome him with yaqīn and sincere counsel (naṣīḥah). If he comes from the side of laziness and weariness, overpower him with remembrance of the grave and the Resurrection. If he comes by desire or by fear, remind him that this world is transient and abandoned.” Al-Ḥasan also said: “No servant ever attains true certainty concerning Paradise and Hell without becoming humble and withered, yet upright and moderate, until death comes to him. With yaqīn I sought Paradise, with yaqīn I fled from the Fire, with yaqīn I performed the obligatory duties to the fullest, and with yaqīn I remained patient in upholding the truth. In Allah’s protection (maʿāfah) lies abundant good. By Allah, we have seen people unite in prosperity, yet when tribulation strikes, they disperse.” “And he said: People are alike in prosperity; when affliction descends, the true men become manifest. In another version: when trial comes, it becomes clear who worships Allah alone and who associates others. In a third: when calamity strikes, the believer clings to his faith, the hypocrite to his hypocrisy.” Al-Firyābī related in Fadāʾil al-Qurʾān that ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak told us—Muʿammar from Yaḥyā ibn al-Mukhtār from al-Ḥasan—who said: “This Quran is recited by slaves and children who know nothing of its exegesis; they do not address its injunctions before its beginning. Allah says (38:29): ‘A blessed Book We have revealed to you so that they may reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding may take heed.’ Reflection (tadabbur) of its verses is none other than following them. By Allah, it is not mere preservation of its letters while neglecting its limits. Indeed, some say, ‘By Allah, I have recited the whole Quran without omitting a single letter.’ Yet by Allah, they have forsaken it entirely—seeing neither moral excellence nor righteous action in it. Some even boast, ‘By Allah, I recite a sūrah in a single breath!’ No, they are neither reciters nor scholars nor wise nor devout. Whenever recitation is like this—or one says such things—Allah does not increase the like of them among the people.” This was narrated by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā in al-Zuhd (p. 274, no. 793) and by al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān (2: 541, no. 2653). Al-Ḥasan also transmitted from Jundub that Ḥudhayfah said to a gathering: “Do you fear anything? I replied, ‘By Allah, you and your companions are the easiest people for us.’ He said, ‘By Him in Whose hand is my soul, you will receive support only from our side—and yet a later generation will arise and recite the Quran like scattering the poorest dates (daqqal), their recitation outpacing their faith.’” This is recorded in al-Bukhārī’s al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (4: 301) in the biography of Ṣillat ibn Mihrān, via a chain to Muʿammar from Qatādah from al-Ḥasan from Jundub, who heard it from Ḥudhayfah or from the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Abī al-Dunyā also narrated in Dhamm al-Ghibah: “By Allah, backbiting devours a believer’s religion faster than food devours his body.” (Cited by al-Ghazālī in Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn 3: 143.) He used to say: “O son of Adam, you will not attain the reality of faith until you refrain from mentioning others’ faults—even if they exist—and instead begin by rectifying that fault in yourself. When you do so, that becomes your preoccupation in self-discipline. The most beloved of servants to Allah are those who act thus.” (Narrated by Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā in al-Samt, p. 131 no. 197; by al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān 5: 312 no. 6762; cited by Ibn al-Jawzī in Ṣifat al-Ṣafwah 3: 234; and by al-Ghazālī in Iḥyāʾ 3: 143.) And al-Ḥasan said: “There is no inviolability (ḥurmā) between you and a sinner.” He also said: “An innovator (mubtadiʿ) has no backbiting.” Aslat ibn Ṭarīf asked al-Ḥasan, “If a manifestly immoral man openly sins, may I mention him by what is in him of backbiting?” He replied, “Neither that nor expiation (karāmah).” And he added, “When his sin becomes evident, then there is no backbiting.”