And he served as guardian of the orphan and aided the weak. He was asked, “What is hypocrisy?” He replied, “It is the discrepancy between one’s private and public conduct, between one’s inward and outward states.” He also said, “None but a believer fears it [hypocrisy], and none but a hypocrite feels safe from it.” Hasan swore, “Never did a believer live or die without fearing hypocrisy.” In another narration: “…except that he was fearful of hypocrisy,” and “never did a hypocrite live or die without feeling secure from hypocrisy.” (Ibn Rajab, Jami‘ al-‘Ulum wa al-Hikam, p. 434; opening hadith in Ibn al-Qayyim, Madaarij al-Salikin 1/358.) ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz wrote to Hasan: “How is your love for the dinar and dirham?” He answered, “I do not love them.” The caliph replied, “Then assume the office— for you will be just.” Ibrahim ibn ‘Isa said, “I have never seen sorrow so prolonged as Hasan’s, nor ever saw him without thinking he had just been struck by calamity.” (Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, 2/133.) Masma‘ said, “If you saw Hasan, you would say the sorrow of all creation had been cast upon him.” Yazid ibn Hawsab said, “I have seen none more mournful than Hasan and ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz; it seems as if the Fire was created solely for them.” Ibn Asbat reported, “Hasan spent thirty years without laughing and forty without joking.” (Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, 8/240; Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-Safwa 3/234.) He said, “The like of exposed shame and weeping eyes has never been heard of among creatures—except on the Day of Resurrection.” He said, “O son of Adam, tomorrow you will look upon your deeds, good and bad, weighed in the balance. So do not despise any good, however small—when you see it in the scale you will rejoice at its place. And do not neglect any evil you can avoid—for when you see it tomorrow on your scale, you will lament its weight.” (Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, 2/143; Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-Safwa 3/235.) He said, “The world is gone—what remains are your deeds like necklaces around your necks.” (Hilyat al-Awliya’, 2/143.) He said, “O son of Adam, sell your world for your Hereafter and you will gain both. Do not sell your Hereafter for your world, lest you lose both.” (Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, 2/143 & 7/35; Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-Safwa 3/236.) This saying is attributed to Luqman as advice to his son. Hasan said, “You see a man dressed in red and white calling, ‘Come look at me.’ I reply, ‘We have seen you, O most corrupt of the corrupt, and we neither welcome nor greet you. The people of this world, by gazing at you, only grow more eager for worldly life and bolder in pursuit of its pleasures; the people of the Hereafter despise you and turn away.’” He said, “Even if scourges were hurled at them, beasts driven against them, and men trampled upon them, the humiliation of sins would never depart from their necks. God wills only to abase whoever disobeys Him.” (Ibn al-Qayyim, Ighathat al-Lahfan 1:48, 188; al-Jawab al-Kafi pp. 38–39.) Faraqd reported: “We visited Hasan and said, ‘O Abu Sa‘id, does Muhammad ibn al-Ahtam not impress you?’ He asked, ‘Why?’ We said, ‘We recently called on him and he was lavish with his possessions.’ He pointed to a chest in the corner and said, ‘In this chest are eighty thousand dinars’ (or dirhams), ‘from which I have paid no charity, given no support to kin, nor has any needy person eaten a morsel.’ We asked, ‘O Abu ‘Abd Allah, for whom are you amassing this?’ He replied, ‘Out of fear for the times, the increase of rivals, and the enmity of the ruler.’ Then he said…” (narration continues).