38 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn told me; he said: Muḥammad ibn Ishkāb al-Ṣaffār told me; he said: A man of his own household—meaning one of the family of Dāwud al-Tāʾī—told me; he said:

“I once said to him, ‘Abū Sulaymān, you know the bond that unites us; so leave me with some advice.’ He wept, and then said, ⦗31⦘ ‘My brother, the night and the day are but stages of a journey. People travel through them, stage by stage, until they come to the end of their road. If you can, then, send forward at every stage some provision for what lies ahead, do so. The journey will soon be cut short—indeed, sooner than that—and the matter is swifter still. So lay in provisions for your journey and settle whatever deeds you must, for it is as though the affair has already overtaken you. I say this to you, and I know no one more negligent in this regard than myself.’ Then he rose and departed.