“Before they call upon Me, I will answer them; before they ask Me, I will grant them. And when My servant obeys Me, if the inhabitants of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth were to gather to harm him, I would create for him an escape from that; but when My servant disobeys Me, I would cut off his hands from the gates of the heavens and suspend him in midair so that he would be unable to obtain anything he seeks from My creation.” (Also reported by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya, 4:38.) And Ibn al-Mubārak also said (in his book al-Zuhd, p. 161, no. 470): “Bakkār ibn ‘Abdullāh told us: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say that Allāh, exalted is He, reproached the scholars of the Children of Israel, saying: ‘You study for purposes other than faith and learn for purposes other than practice. You seek this world by means of the deeds of the Hereafter. You don sheepskins yet conceal the skins of wolves; you sift the chaff from your drink. You consume mountains’ worth of forbidden gains and lay burdens upon people like mountains, yet you do not help them lift a speck of debt. You prolong your prayers and whiten your garments, all the while diminishing the wealth of orphans and widows. By My Might, I swear I will strike you with a trial in which even the counsel of the wise will go astray and the prudence of the prudent will fail.’” (Also recorded by Imām Aḥmad in al-Zuhd, p. 53, and by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya, 4:38–39.) Al-Ṭabarānī narrated: “‘Abdullāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣan‘ānī told us, from Hammām ibn Maslama, from Ghawth ibn Jābir, from ‘Aqīl ibn Ma‘qal, that he heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say: ‘Indeed, Allāh does not praise anyone for obedience, nor does anyone attain any good from Him except by His mercy. Allāh neither hopes for the good of people nor fears their evil; He bestows kindness on people only out of His mercy for them. If they plot against Him, He destroys their plots; if they attempt to deceive Him, He turns their deception back on them; if they lie to Him, falsehood is visited upon them; if they turn away, He cuts them off; if they turn to Him, He accepts them. He accepts from them no stratagem, no cunning, no deception, no wrath, no dispute. Good comes only by the mercy of Allāh.’ “In al-Hilya it is added: ‘Nor can anyone obtain any good from Allāh by stratagem or by cunning or by deceit or by wrath or by consultation; good comes only through His mercy.’ And he went on: ‘Whoever does not seek good through His mercy will find no other door through which to enter. Allāh grants no good except through obedience to Him, nor does He show mercy to people except when they worship Him and supplicate Him until He has mercy on them. When He shows mercy, He grants their needs out of that mercy. There is no other way to the mercy of Allāh except through worship and supplication. The mercy of Allāh is the door to all good that one seeks from Him, and the key to that door is humble supplication and servitude to Him. Whoever abandons the key will find that the door does not open; whoever brings the key, the door opens for him. How can a door open without a key? All the treasures of good belong to Allāh, and the door to His treasures is His mercy. The key to Allāh’s mercy is humility, supplication, and neediness before Him. Whoever preserves this key will have the treasures opened to him and enter in; therein he will find whatever the souls desire and the eyes delight in— what you wish and call for in secure repose, without fear, without old age, without need, without death— abiding in blessedness, great reward, and noble recompense from the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’” (Abu Nu‘aym, al-Hilya, 4:39–40.) Sufyān ibn ‘Uyayna reported: “Wahb said: ‘The greatest aid to morality in religion is asceticism in this world, and its quickest enemy is following one’s whims and the love of wealth and status. From the love of wealth and status, sacred inviolables are violated; and when the Lord’s sanctities are violated, His anger has no remedy.’” (Abu Nu‘aym, al-Hilya, 4:41.) And he added: “Allāh says in some of His books, reproaching the Children of Israel: ‘Indeed, if you obey Me, I will be pleased; and if I am pleased, I will bless.’ and not…"