41 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: Ahmad ibn Jamil informed us; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak informed us; he said: ʿUtbah ibn Abi Hakim informed us; he said: ʿAmr ibn Jariyah al-Lakhmi narrated to me; he said: Abu Umayyah al-Shaʿbani narrated to me:

I went to Abu Thaʿlabah al-Khushani, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and asked, “Abu Thaʿlabah, how do you understand this verse?” He replied, “Which verse?” I said, “Allah’s words: ‘O you who believe, take care of your own souls; he who strays cannot harm you once you have been guided aright’ (al-Maʾidah 5:105).”

He said, “By Allah, I asked someone who knew: I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it, and he said, ‘Rather, keep commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, until you see greed being obeyed, desires being followed, the life of this world being preferred, and everyone admiring only his own opinion. When you witness that, then attend to your own soul and leave the general public alone. For ahead of you lie the Days of Steadfastness: perseverance in those days will be like holding on to a live coal. The one who acts during them will have the reward of fifty men who do deeds ⦗45⦘ like his.’”

And another narrator added: I said, “Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of them?” He replied, “The reward of fifty of you.”