54 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Maḥbūb narrated to us; al-Fayḍ ibn Isḥāq passed it on. He said: Fudayl ibn ʿIyāḍ reported that Ibrāhīm al-Taymī said, “If he only imprisons me, that is the lighter matter for me. What I fear is that he may put me to a test, and then I would not know how I would respond.”

Fudayl remarked, “He was afraid he might be driven into temptation.”

Ibrāhīm continued, “So he did jail me. I was brought in to find two men fastened by a single shackle in a cramped space where a person had no more than the spot he sat on; there they ate, there they relieved themselves, and there they prayed.

“Later a man from Bahrain was brought in and thrust among us; finding no room, the prisoners began tossing him from side to side. He said, ‘Be patient— it is only for the night.’ When night came he stood to pray and said, ‘My Lord, You have bestowed upon me Your religion and taught me Your Book; then ⦗61⦘ You subjected me to the worst of Your creatures. My Lord, just this night—only this night—let me not see morning here.’

“We had not yet reached dawn when the doors of the prison were struck and someone called, ‘Where is the Bahraini?’ We said, ‘They have summoned him at this hour only to kill him.’ Instead, he was set free. He came, stood at the doorway, greeted us with salām, and said, ‘Obey Allah and He will not abandon you.’”