He said: I asked, “They say it is ‘Ali?” He replied, “‘Ali is one of the Companions of Muḥammad.” (same source) Abd Allāh ibn ‘Aṭā’ said: “I have never seen scholars in anyone’s company who were younger than those around Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali. I saw al-Ḥakīm there as if he were a student.” (al-Hilya, vol. 3, pp. 185–186) He said: “I had a brother who was great in my eyes, and what made him great to me was his utter scorn for the world.” (al-Hilya, vol. 3, p. 186) Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad related: “My father’s mule went missing. He said, ‘If Allah returns it to me, I will praise Him with praises that please Him.’ Before long, it was brought back with its saddle intact. He mounted it, and when he was settled and had gathered his garments, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Alhamdulillah’ (Praise be to Allah). He said nothing more. When it was remarked to him, he replied, ‘Could I add or omit anything? I have made all praise belong to Allah alone.’” (Abū Nu‘aym, al-Hilya, vol. 3, p. 186; al-Bayhaqī, Shu‘ab al-Īmān, vol. 4, p. 96, no. 4392) ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak reported that Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali said: “Whoever is granted good character (khuluq) and gentleness has been granted goodness and comfort, and his state in this world and the next will be good. Whoever is deprived of them is led to every evil and affliction—unless Allah protects him.” (al-Hilya, vol. 3, p. 186) He said: “Will any of you thrust his hand into his companion’s sleeve and take whatever he wants in full? We answered, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Then you are not brothers as you profess.’” (al-Hilya, vol. 3, p. 187) He said: “Recognize your brother’s affection for you by the affection you bear him.” (same source) He heard birds chirping and asked, “Do you know what they say?” When told, “No,” he said, “They glorify Allah and ask Him for their provision day by day.” (same source) He said: “We supplicate Allah with what we love, and if what we dislike occurs, we do not oppose Allah in what He loves.” (al-Hilya, vol. 3, p. 187) He also said: “No act of worship is better than chastity of the stomach or the private parts. There is nothing more beloved to Allah than being asked; nothing averts decree except supplication. Indeed, the swiftest good in reward is righteousness, and the swiftest evil in punishment is oppression. It is sufficient as a flaw in a man that he sees in others what blinds him to his own faults; that he commands people to what he cannot do and forbids them from what he cannot avoid; and that he harms his companion over matters that do not concern him.” (al-Hilya, vol. 3, p. 188) He said: “The Qur’an is the Word of Allah (kalam Allāh), not a created thing.” (same source) Abū Ja‘far said: “A man accompanied ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb to Mecca and died on the way. ʿUmar delayed his burial until he prayed over him and interred him. There was not a day thereafter but that ʿUmar would recite this couplet: wa-al-ghābū amīrun kāna ya’mulu dawna hu … wa mukhtalijun min dūni mā kāna ya’mulu (‘He glorified an emir he thought to be beneath him… and was cast down from what he had aspired to.’)” (same source) He said: “By Allah, the death of a scholar is more beloved to Iblīs than the death of a thousand worshippers.” (same source) He said: “Whenever a servant’s eye is moistened with tears, Allah forbids the Fire from touching his face; if the tears fall upon his cheeks, He will not lay upon his face the burden of Hellfire.” (same source)