Abū Muṣʿab, on the authority of Mālik, related that Jesus son of Mary said: “Do not multiply speech in which God is not remembered, lest your hearts grow hard; for a hard heart is far from God, though you do not realize it. And do not scrutinize the sins of God’s servants as though you were their lords; regard them rather as servants like yourselves. People are of only two kinds: one who is sound and one who is being tried. Show mercy to those under trial and thank God for your own well-being. (1)

Al-Thawrī said: I heard my father relate, from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, that Jesus said to his disciples: “In truth I tell you: whoever seeks Paradise will find that barley bread (2) and sleeping on refuse heaps with the dogs is more than enough.” (3)

Mālik ibn Dīnār also narrated that Jesus said: “Eating barley mixed with ashes and sleeping atop rubbish heaps with the dogs is a trifling matter in the pursuit of Paradise.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak reported: Sufyān narrated to us, from Manṣūr, from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, that Jesus said: “Work for God, not for your stomachs. Look at these birds: they leave in the morning and return in the evening; they neither plow nor reap, yet God provides for them. If you say, ‘Our stomachs are larger than those of the birds,’ then look at these cattle (4)—the wild beasts and the asses: they too go out and come back without plowing or harvesting, and God provides for them.” (5)

Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Shurayḥ ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, from Yazīd ibn Maysarah, reported: The disciples said to the Messiah, “O Messiah of God, behold the House of God—how beautiful it is!” He replied, “Āmīn, Āmīn. Truly, I say to you: God will not leave a single stone of this mosque standing but that He will destroy it because of the sins of its people. God has no need of gold, silver, or these stones that so impress you. What is dearer to God than all of this are righteous hearts; through such hearts God populates the earth, and through hearts of the opposite kind He lays it waste.” (6)

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir said in his ‘History’: Abū Manṣūr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣūfī informed us; ʿĀʾishah bint al-Ḥasan ibn Ibrāhīm al-Warkāniyyah (7) informed us, saying: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Haytham dictated to us; al-Walīd ibn Abān dictated to us; Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us; Sahl ibn—