450 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to me; Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad al-Yazīdī narrated to us; Shurayk related to us, from Abū Sinān, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī al-Hudhayl, from ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir:

His companions were waiting for him. When he finally came out they said, “What kept you, O commander?” He replied, “Let me tell you about a brother of yours who lived before you—namely Moses, peace be upon him. He once said, ‘My Lord, tell me who among people is most beloved to You.’ Allah said, ‘And why do you ask?’ He answered, ‘So that I may love him for Your love of him.’ Allah said, ‘There is a servant at the farthest end of the earth— or at one edge of the earth—of whom another servant at the farthest end— or at one edge—has heard, though he does not know him. If a calamity befalls that man, it is as though it befell the other; if even a thorn pricks him, it is as though it pricked the other. He loves him only for My sake; such a man is the most beloved of My creatures to Me.’

Moses then said, ‘My Lord, You have created a people whom You will cast into the Fire and punish—how can that be?’ Allah revealed to him, ‘All of them are My creation.’

Then He said to him, ‘Plant a crop.’ So Moses planted it. He said, ‘Water it,’ and he watered it. Then He said, ‘Watch over it,’ so he watched over it for as long as Allah willed. When harvest time came, he reaped it and gathered it. Allah said, ‘What became of your crop, O Moses?’ He replied, ‘I have finished with it and stored it away.’ Allah asked, ‘Did you leave anything of it?’ He said, ‘Only what was of no benefit,’ or, ‘only what I had no need for.’ Allah said, ‘So it is with Me: I punish only the one in whom there is no good,’ or, ‘the one for whom I have no need.’