that are well known, (1) yet they possess virtues and fine qualities befitting them—may Allah be pleased with them [all] (2). Mūsā ibn Ja‘far was renowned for worship and ascetic devotion.
As for the account mentioned (3) on the authority of Shaqīq al-Balkhī, it is false. This account conflicts with what is known of Mūsā ibn Ja‘far’s circumstances. After the death of his father Ja‘far—who died in 148 AH—Mūsā remained in Medina. At that time, he had not yet come to Iraq and therefore could not have been at al-Qādisiyya. Moreover, given his renown, his many visitors (6), and the reverence people held for him, he was not someone who would have been left (4) alone under such circumstances (5). He was also associated among them with rulership (7). For that reason, (8) al-Mahdī and then al-Rashīd took him to Baghdad.
As for his statement:
“Bishr al-Hāfī repented at his hands,”
this is one of the lies told by those who know neither his circumstances nor those of Bishr. When al-Rashīd brought [him] (9) to Iraq, he imprisoned him; he was therefore in no position to pass by the home of Bishr or other ordinary people like him.