or repentance will be punished by being deprived of them in the Hereafter—a fitting recompense.

How excellent is what al-Ḥākim narrated (2/455) from Ṣafwān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣafwān, who said:

“Saʿd sought permission to enter upon Ibn ʿĀmir, who had silk cushions beneath him. He ordered them removed, and then Saʿd entered wearing a khazz cloak, a silk-and-wool fabric. Ibn ʿĀmir said to him, ‘You sought permission to enter while I had silk cushions beneath me, so I ordered them removed.’ He replied, ‘What an excellent man you are, Ibn ʿĀmir, if you are not among those of whom Allah, Most High, said: “You exhausted your good things in your worldly life.” By Allah, I would rather lie upon the burning embers of the desert acacia than lie upon them.’”

Al-Ḥākim said: “It is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabī agreed with him, and al-Mundhirī endorsed it as well!

I say: It only meets Muslim’s criteria, since al-Bukhārī did not narrate from Ṣafwān ibn ʿAbd Allāh in his Ṣaḥīḥ; rather, he narrated from him only in al-Adab al-Mufrad.

Know that the forbidden silk is only the familiar animal silk, known in the Levant as local silk. As for vegetable silk, made from the fibres of certain plants, it is not forbidden in any respect.

As for wine, it is forbidden in all its varieties and types, whether made from grapes, maize, dates, or anything else. All of it is forbidden, with no distinction between a small amount and a large amount, because the legal cause that makes a drink khamr is intoxication, not the material from which the intoxication is produced. As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is forbidden.” Muslim narrated it.

And he said: “Whatever intoxicates in a large amount, a small amount of it is forbidden.”