Abd Allāh narrated to us—my father narrated to me—Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Sufyān, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, [48] from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd, from his father, who said:

I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, which people face the most severe trials?” He replied, “The prophets, then the righteous, and then those who most resemble them, rank after rank. A person is tried according to the strength of his faith: if his religious commitment is firm, his trial is intensified; if his faith is slight, the trial is lightened for him. Affliction will not cease to befall the servant until he walks the earth with no sin remaining upon him.”