Anyone who visits a sick person ought to guide him to the truth and inspire him to accept it. If the visitor knows that the patient has been negligent, he should say, “O so-and-so, istaghfir Allah (seek Allah’s forgiveness) and repent to Him.” The best gift you can offer the ill is something that benefits his religion; idle talk and stories can wait for another time.

A father may desire good for his son while failing to attain it himself. This Jewish man urged his boy to obey Abu al-Qasim and enter Islam, yet he himself did not embrace it. A parent can therefore love guidance for his child while being personally deprived of it—Allah’s refuge is sought.

The episode is proof of the Prophet’s ﷺ veracity: the Jew said to his son, “Obey Abu al-Qasim.” Truth is what even one’s enemies attest to. It is well known that Jews and Christians recognize the Prophet ﷺ as clearly as they recognize their own children. Allah the Exalted said, “Those to whom We gave the Scripture recognize him just as they recognize their own sons,” and they had this certainty because Allah said