tree leaves; he had no house to rest in, no family or wealth, and he stored nothing away for the next day.

Some of the early authorities added: he lived on what his mother earned from spinning, peace and blessings be upon him.

Ibn ʿAsākir narrates from al-Shaʿbī that whenever the Hour was mentioned in Jesus’ presence, peace be upon him, he would cry out and say, “It does not befit the son of Mary that the Hour be mentioned before him,” and then he would fall silent.

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Saʿīd ibn Baḥr reports that whenever Jesus heard an admonition he would wail like a bereaved mother.

ʿAbd al-Razzaq said: Maʿmar related to us, from Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, that Jesus used to say:

“O Allah, this morning I have no power to repel what I dislike, nor do I possess the benefit I hope for. The affair lies in the hand of someone other than me, and I am pledged to my deeds; no pauper is poorer than I. O Allah, do not let my enemy rejoice over me, do not grieve my friend because of me, do not make my calamity in my religion, and do not set over me one who will show me no mercy.”

Al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, on the authority of Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, said that Jesus used to say, “One does not attain the reality of faith until he is indifferent as to who enjoys the things of this world.”

Al-Fudayl also reported that Jesus said, “I reflected upon creation and found that the one who has never been created is, to me, more enviable than the one who has.”

Ishāq ibn Bishr, from Hishām ibn Ḥassān, from al-Ḥasan, said: “Jesus is the leader of the ascetics; on the Day of Resurrection he will lead the ascetics.” He added, “Those who fled the world on account of their sins will be gathered on the Day of Judgment in the company of Jesus.”

He went on: “One day Jesus was sleeping with his head on a stone, enjoying the sweetness of rest, when Satan passed by and said…”