252 – ʿAbdullāh narrated to us; he said: al-ʿAbbās ibn Yazīd al-Baṣrī narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raz̄z̄āq narrated to us; he said: Bakkār ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ṣanʿānī narrated to us; he said: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say:
“The Lord—majestic is He—said to the scholars of the Children of Israel: You acquire knowledge with no intention of acting upon it; ⦗170⦘ you seek legal understanding for reasons other than true religion; you use the religion to heap up worldly gain; you place the weight of religion on the people like mountains yet offer them no help. You strain the speck from your drink while swallowing mountains of forbidden things. You whiten your garments, wear coarse sheep-skins, and hide your finest clothes. With such pretence you seize the property of the orphan, the needy, and the widow. By My might, I shall surely strike you with a tribulation in which even the most forbearing person will be left bewildered.”