Khalaf ibn Hawshab said: Abu Jaʿfar said: “Iman (faith) is firmly rooted in the heart, while yaqīn (certainty) consists of fleeting impressions. When these impressions pass through the heart, they turn it into zubar al-hadīd (iron fragments); when they depart, they leave it like a tattered rag.” (Reported by Abu Nuʿaym in Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ 3:180.) “Nothing from arrogance enters a servant’s heart except that it diminishes his intellect by at least that amount, or more.” (Ibid.; also cited in the author’s Tafsīr 3:180.) He told Jābir al-Juʿfī: “What do the jurists of Iraq say about the verse ‘Why did he not see the proof of his Lord?’ [Quran 12:24]? They say: ‘He saw Jacob chewing his thumb.’ But my father narrated from my grandfather ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib that the proof Yūsuf actually saw was this: when she cast her desire upon him and he upon her, she rose to a sanam (idol) adorned with pearls and rubies in a corner of the house and covered him with a white cloth, either for fear of being seen or out of modesty. Yūsuf asked, ‘What is this?’ She replied, ‘My Lord, I am ashamed that he should see me in this state.’ He said, ‘You shame before an idol that neither benefits nor harms, nor hears nor sees. Should I not shame before my Lord, who is over every soul according to what it has earned?’ Then he swore, ‘By God, you shall never have power over me.’ That was the “proof” he saw.” (Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ 3:181.) Biʾshr ibn al-Hārith al-Ḥāfi said: “I heard Sufyān al-Thawrī say: ‘I heard Manṣūr say: “I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī say: ‘Ghināʾ (wealth) and ʿizz (honor) roam in the believer’s heart; when they find a place where tawakkul (reliance) dwells, they settle there.’”’” (Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ 3:181.) He also said: “God casts fear into the hearts of our Shiʿa; when our Qā’im rises and our Mahdī appears, a man among them will be bolder than Layth and sharper than Saif.” (Some manuscripts read “madīnina” in error; the correct reading in Hilya is “Mahdī.” 3:184.) He said: “Our Shiʿa are those who obey God and fear Him.” [Quran 3:31] (Ibid.) He said: “Beware of disputation, for it corrupts the heart and breeds hypocrisy.” (Ibid.) He said: “Those who engage in disputation over God’s verses are the people of contention.” (Ibid.) ʿUrwa ibn ʿAbd Allāh said: “I asked Abu Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī about the hilat al-sayf (adornment of the sword). He replied: ‘It is permissible—Abu Bakr as-Ṣiddīq adorned his sword.’ I said: ‘And you say as-Ṣiddīq?!’ He leaped, faced the qibla, and declared: ‘Yes, as-Ṣiddīq—in truth, as-Ṣiddīq. Whoever does not say as-Ṣiddīq, God will not validate his words in this world or the next.’” (Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ 3:185.) Jābir al-Juʿfī narrated: “Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī said to me: ‘O Jābir, I have learned that some people in Iraq claim to love us, venerate Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, and allege that I ordered them to do so. Tell them from me that I disassociate myself before God from them. By the One in whose hand Muḥammad’s soul is—meaning his own—if I were placed in authority, I would draw near to God through their blood, and Muḥammad’s intercession would not avail me if I did not seek forgiveness for them and show mercy to them. The enemies of God are heedless of their merits and precedence. Convey that I disavow anyone who disowns Abu Bakr and ʿUmar (may God be pleased with them).’” (Ibid.) He said: “Whoever does not recognize the virtue of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar has indeed neglected the Sunnah.” (Ibid.) Commenting on the verse “Your only awliyāʾ are God, His Messenger, and those who believe” [Quran 5:55], he said: “They are those closest to Muḥammad.”