and ruinous unlawful wealth in your possession, so that they may extract some of it through deceit and stratagems. The true scholar, by contrast, is the one who covets none of your money and who deals with you justly in counsel and speech.
It is related that Shaqiq al-Balkhi once came before Harun al-Rashid. The caliph asked, “Are you Shaqiq the ascetic?” He replied, “I am Shaqiq, but I am no ascetic.” The caliph said, “Give me advice.” Shaqiq answered, “God, exalted be He, has seated you in the place of al-Siddiq, and He expects charity from you as He expected from him. He has granted you the rank of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab al-Faruq, and He requires of you the same discrimination between truth and falsehood. He has installed you in the position of ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan, the Possessor of the Two Lights, and He demands from you modesty and generosity like his. And He has placed you where ʿAli ibn Abi Talib once stood, and from you He seeks knowledge and justice just as He sought from him.”
The caliph said, “Add to your counsel.” Shaqiq said, “Very well. Know that God Most High owns a realm called Hell, and He has appointed you as the gatekeeper of that realm. He has placed three things in your hand: the public treasury, the whip, and the sword. He has commanded you to keep His servants from entering Hell by means of these three: whoever comes to you in need, do not withhold the treasury from him; whoever rebels against his Lord, discipline him with the whip; and whoever unlawfully kills a soul, execute him with the sword, with the permission of the victim’s guardian. If you fail to do what He has ordered, you will be the guarantor for the people of Hell, the first to be driven to destruction.”
The caliph said, “Give me more.” Shaqiq replied, “Your likeness is that of a spring, while the rest of the scholars are like the rivulets that flow from it. If the spring is pure, the muddiness of the rivulets does no harm; but if the spring itself is turbid, the clarity of the rivulets will be of no benefit.”
Story: Harun al-Rashid once went out by night with al-ʿAbbas to visit al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyad. When they reached his door they found him reciting the verse, “Do those who commit evil deeds suppose that We shall make them equal to those who believe and do righteous deeds?” (Quran 45:21). Its meaning is: do those who earn sins and perform blameworthy acts imagine that We will treat them in the Hereafter like those who do good while remaining believers? Never—how wrong is their judgment. Harun said, “If we have come for admonition, this verse alone suffices.” He then ordered al-ʿAbbas to knock at the door. Al-ʿAbbas knocked and said, “Open the door for the Commander of the Faithful.”
Al-Fudayl replied, “What business has the Commander of the Faithful with me?” Al-ʿAbbas said, “Obey the Commander of the Faithful and open the door.” It was night and a lamp was burning; al-Fudayl extinguished it and then opened the door.