36 – Ishaq ibn Ibrahim narrated to us; he said: Jaʿfar ibn Sulayman narrated to us; he said: al-Muʿalla ibn Ziyad narrated to us, saying:

“When Yazid ibn al-Muhallab came to power, I feared that I would be seized and made a communal informer (ʿarif). So I went to al-Hasan while he was among his household, and a servant called Barzah was handing him his clothes. I said, ‘Abu Saʿid, how are we to understand this verse in the Book of Allah?’ He replied, ‘Which verse?’ I said, ‘The statement of Allah, Most High: “You see many of them hastening to sin and transgression and to devour the unlawful; how vile is what they have been doing” (al-Maʾidah 5:62). Abu Saʿid, Allah was angered at those people for committing sin and consuming the unlawful, and He condemned these others because they did not forbid it.’

Al-Hasan said, ‘Servant of Allah, the people have brandished the sword, and the sword now bars the tongue.’

I asked, ‘Abu Saʿid, do you know of any special virtue for the one who speaks out?’

He answered, ‘I know of none.’”