50 – ʿAli ibn al-Hasan narrated to me, from Abu Yazid al-Raqqi, from Fudayl ibn ʿIyad:

He was asked about al-amr wa’n-nahy—that is, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong—but he did not instruct those present to undertake it. Then he added, “If you can persevere as the Israelite persevered, then excellent.”

Someone asked, “And how was that Israelite?”

He replied, “Three men met together and said about a certain man—meaning their king—‘He is doing such-and-such.’ They agreed that one of us should go to him privately, counsel him, and forbid him.

“One of them went in, counseled the king, and forbade him. The king said, ‘Do I see you here?’ and ordered that he be thrown into prison.

“When word reached the remaining two, they said, ‘Now the duty is upon us.’ One of the two went to the king and said, ‘Man, a man came to you to command and forbid you, and you imprisoned him.’ The king answered, ‘Do I not see that you are his companion? Still, I shall not do with you what I did with him.’ Then he ordered that he be beaten until he died.

“The news reached the third, and he said, ‘Now the duty is upon me.’ He went to the king and said, ‘Man, a man came to you, commanded and forbade you, and you imprisoned him; then another came and you beat him to death.’ The king said, ‘Do I not see you are his companion? Yet I will not deal with you as I dealt with him.’ Then he ordered that a stake be driven through his ear and that he be fixed in the sun, the heat scorching him from above and from below. They pressed him to say something—some sort of apology—to the king, but he refused.”

Abu al-Qasim, one of Fudayl’s companions, remarked, “As for any one of you: if he were merely shouted at, he would say, ‘May Allah ransom me for you!’”