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- ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; my father narrated to us; ʿĀrim narrated to us; Muʿtamir narrated, saying: I heard my father say that Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh related the following: David asked Solomon, “What thing is the coldest? What thing is the sweetest? What thing is the nearest? What thing is the farthest? What thing is the least? What thing is the most? What thing brings the greatest companionship, and what thing is the most desolate?”
He replied, “The sweetest thing is the comfort Allah lets descend among His servants. The coldest thing is Allah’s pardon of His servants—and the servants’ pardon of one another. The most companionable thing is the soul while it remains within the body; the most desolate thing is the body once the soul has been taken from it. The scarcest thing is certainty; the most plentiful is doubt. The nearest thing is the Hereafter in relation to this world, and the farthest is this world in relation to the Hereafter.” Or words to that effect.
٢٢٠ - حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا أبِي، حَدَّثَنَا عَارِمٌ، حَدَّثَنَا مُعْتَمِرٌ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبِي يَقُولُ: حَدَّثَنَا بَكْرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَنَّ دَاوُدَ قَالَ لِسُلَيْمَانَ (رحمه الله): «أَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَبْرَدُ؟ وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَحْلَى؟ وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَقْرَبُ؟ وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَبْعَدُ؟ وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَقَلُّ؟ وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَكْثَرُ؟ وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ آنَسُ، وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَوْحَشُ؟» قَالَ: «أَحْلَى شَيْءٍ رَوْحُ اللَّهِ بَيْنَ عِبَادِهِ، وَأَبْرَدُ شَيْءٍ عَفْوُ اللَّهِ – Exalté soit-Il – عَنْ عِبَادِهِ، وَعَفْوُ الْعِبَادِ بَعْضِهِمْ عَنْ بَعْضٍ، وَآنَسُ شَيْءٍ الرُّوحُ تَكُونُ فِي الْجَسَدِ، وَأَوْحَشُ شَيْءٍ الْجَسَدُ تُنْزَعُ مِنْهُ الرُّوحُ، وَأَقَلُّ شَيْءٍ الْيَقِينُ، وَأَكْثَرُ شَيْءٍ الشَّكُّ، وَأَقْرَبُ شَيْءٍ الْآخِرَةُ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا، وَأَبْعَدُ شَيْءٍ الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ» أَوْ كَمَا قَالَ