1570 — Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad informed us. He said: Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Yazid al-Riyahi narrated to us. He said: My father narrated to us. He said: Sulayman ibn al-Hakam narrated to us. He said: Utbah ibn Humayd narrated to us, from Qabisah ibn Jabir al-Asadi, who said:

A man stood before Ali and said, “O Commander of the Believers, what is faith?” ⦗925⦘ He replied:

“Faith rests upon four pillars: patience, certainty, jihad, and justice.

“Patience has four branches: longing, fear, abstinence, and anticipation. Whoever longs for Paradise turns away from desires; whoever fears the Fire withdraws from forbidden matters; whoever renounces worldly life regards afflictions lightly; and whoever anticipates death hastens to good deeds.

“Certainty has four branches: perceptive insight, reflection upon wisdom, admonition through lessons, and following the way of those who came before. Whoever gains perceptive insight reflects upon wisdom; whoever reflects upon wisdom recognizes the lesson; and whoever recognizes the lesson is as though he had lived among those who came before.

“Justice has four branches: deep understanding, flourishing knowledge, the garden of forbearance. Whoever understands can explain all branches of knowledge; whoever possesses knowledge recognizes the ordinances of judgment; and whoever is forbearing does not act recklessly in his affairs and lives among people.

“Jihad has four branches: enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, standing firm in the fields of battle, and detesting the sinful. Whoever enjoins what is right strengthens the believer; whoever forbids what is wrong humiliates the hypocrite; whoever stands firm in the fields of battle fulfills what is due from him; and whoever detests the sinful and becomes angry for Allah’s sake, ⦗926⦘ Allah becomes angry on his behalf.”

Thereupon, the questioner stood and kissed Ali’s head.