Be certain of the pre-ordained decree, for it is
The pillar that secures faith, and the religion is spacious.

Do not, through ignorance, deny Munkar and Nakir—the grave-questioning angels—
Nor the Prophet’s Pond nor the Balance, if you truly wish to counsel.

Say: “By His grace the Almighty will draw forth
From humankind bodies flung aside, as black as charcoal.

He will revive them in a river of Paradise whose water gives life,
Like a seed borne along by a swelling torrent.”

Affirm that Allah’s Messenger will intercede for all creation,
And declare that the punishment (of the grave and beyond) is an evident truth.

Do not pronounce the people of prayer unbelievers, even when they sin;
All of them sin, while the Lord of the Throne forgives.

Do not adopt the doctrine of the Khārijites,
For whoever follows that whim is ruined and exposed.

Nor be a jesting Murji’ite with regard to your faith—
Indeed, the Murji’ only toys with the religion.

Say instead: “Faith consists of speech, intention, and action,”
As the Prophet’s statement clearly proclaims.

It diminishes at times through disobedience,
And, through obedience, it grows and weighs heavier on the Scale.

Set aside the opinions and sayings of men;
The word of Allah’s Messenger is purer and more lucid.

Do not be among those who make sport of their religion,
Reviling and disparaging the people of ḥadīth.

Should you, my friend, hold these convictions throughout your life,
You will lie down and rise each day upon goodness.

This poem has reached us through multiple uninterrupted chains from its author. Al-Ājurri related it and composed a commentary on it, and Abū ʿAbd Allah Ibn Battah included it in “al-Ibāna.” Ibn Abī Dāwūd said:

“This is my statement, the statement of my father, of our shaykhs, and of the scholars whom we did not meet but whose words have reached us. Whoever says otherwise has lied.”

Abū Bakr was among the foremost ḥadīth masters, no less than his father. He wrote several works, and the leadership of the Hanbalis in Baghdad eventually came to rest with him. He died in 316 AH.

112 – ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān al-Makkī, a shaykh of the Sufis (d. 297 AH).

279 – He authored “The Etiquette of the Seekers.” In it, under the chapter “What Satan Brings to People by Way of Whispering,” he wrote: “As for the tactic he uses with penitents—once they have withheld themselves from him and sought refuge with Allah—he whispers to them about the Creator so as to corrupt the foundations of monotheism for them.” He then devoted a full section to that subject.