Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī relates—from Abū al-Jald—that he read in the supplication of David—peace be upon him—that David said: “My Lord, how can I thank You when I cannot even reach gratitude to You except through yet another of Your favors?” Thereupon revelation came to him: “O David, do you not know that every blessing you possess is from Me?” He replied, “Indeed, my Lord.” Allah said, “Then that acknowledgment is the gratitude I accept from you.”

Al-Bayhaqī reports: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us; Abū Bakr ibn Bālawayh narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Yūnus al-Qurashī narrated to us; Rūḥ ibn ʿUbādah narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Lāḥiq told me, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: David declared, “All praise belongs to Allah as befits the nobility of His Face and the majesty of His might.” Allah revealed to him, “You have exhausted the recording angels, O David.” Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā transmitted the same wording through ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd from al-Thawrī.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak said in his book Al-Zuhd: Sufyān al-Thawrī told us, from a man, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: In the wisdom literature of the House of David it is written: “It is incumbent on an intelligent person not to neglect four hours: an hour in which he communes with his Lord; an hour in which he takes account of himself; an hour in which he confides to his brethren who apprise him of his faults and speak truthfully to him; and an hour in which he gives his soul its lawful and graceful pleasures—for that hour helps with the other hours and brings rest to the heart. It likewise befits the intelligent to know the tenor of his times, guard his tongue, and apply himself to his own affairs. Furthermore, a sensible man should travel only for one of three reasons: to gather provision for the Hereafter, to attend to the maintenance of his livelihood, or to seek a permissible pleasure.”

This was also narrated by Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā through Abū Bakr ibn Abī Khaythamah, from Ibn Mahdī, from Sufyān, from Abū al-Agharr, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, in similar form; and likewise through ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, from ʿUmar ibn Haytham al-Raqāshī, from Abū al-Agharr, from Wahb ibn Munabbih—the Abū al-Agharr whom Ibn al-Mubārak left unnamed.

Ibn ʿAsākir adds: ʿAbd al-Razzāq told us; Bishr ibn Rāfiʿ narrated to us; an elder from Ṣanʿā known as Abū ʿAbd Allāh said: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih relate the same teaching.