Original content

English translation

Among them: the darling of Mustafa and the sweet basil of Murtaza's heart, and the delight of Zahra's eye, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ali, may Allah honor his face.

He had a complete insight into this path and an abundant share in the subtleties of expression, so much so that in his final testament he said: 'Guard your inner secrets, for God Most High is aware of what is in the hearts. Upon you is the guarding of secrets, for God Most High is the Knower of consciences.'

The truth of this is that the servant is charged with guarding his inner secrets just as he is charged with guarding his outward conduct. Thus guarding the secrets means [refraining] from turning toward strangers, and guarding outward conduct means [refraining] from opposing the Almighty.

And it is related that when the Qadarites gained the upper hand and the doctrine of the Mu'tazila spread through the world, Hasan al-Basri (may God be pleased with him) wrote a letter to Hasan ibn Ali (may God be pleased with them both) and said:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of God and the light of his eye, and the mercy of God and His blessings. To proceed: You, O company of the Banu Hashim, are like ships sailing upon the deep seas, and lamps of the darkness, and banners of guidance, and the leading imams — whoever follows them is saved, like Noah's laden ark to which the believers resort and by which those who hold fast are saved. So what do you say, O son of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), concerning our bewilderment about predestination (qadar) and our disagreement about capacity (istita'a)? That you may teach us what your considered view holds firm upon, for you are 'a progeny, one from another,' who know by the knowledge of God; He is the Witness over you and you are God's witnesses over the people. And peace.

The meaning of this is: The peace of God be upon you, O son of the Prophet of God and the light of his eye; the mercy of God be upon you and His blessings. You, all the Banu Hashim, are like ships sailing upon the seas, and you are shining stars, and the signs of guidance, and the imams of the religion. Whoever follows you is saved, like the followers of Noah's ark by which the believers were saved. What do you say, O son of the Prophet (peace be upon him), concerning our bewilderment about qadar and our disagreement about istita'a? That we may know what your way is in that, for you are the progeny of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and will never be cut off. Your knowledge is by the teaching of God (Mighty and Majestic), and He is your keeper and guardian, and the people are under your keeping.

When the letter reached him, he wrote a reply:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. To proceed: Your letter has reached me concerning your bewilderment and the bewilderment of those you mentioned of our community. That which my view holds firm upon is that whoever does not believe in predestination, its good and its evil, has disbelieved, and whoever lays his sins upon God has acted wickedly. God is not obeyed by compulsion nor disobeyed by force, nor does He leave His servants unpossessed of their dominion; rather He is the Owner of what He gave them to possess and the Powerful over that for which He gave them power. If they undertake obedience, He is no barrier to them from it nor a hinderer of them from it; and if they commit disobedience and He wills to show them favor by coming between them and it, He does so; and if He does not, then it is not He who drove them to it by compulsion nor bound them to it by force — His proof against them being that He made it known to them and gave them the means and appointed for them the way to take up what He called them to and to leave what He forbade them. 'And to God belongs the conclusive proof.' (Al-An'am, 149). And peace.

The meaning of this is: What you wrote concerning your own bewilderment and that of which you speak in our community, concerning qadar — that upon which our view holds firm is that whoever does not believe in the predestination of good and evil from God is an unbeliever, and whoever consigns his sins to Him is a wrongdoer; that is, denying the divine decree is the doctrine of the Qadar, and consigning sins to God is the doctrine of Jabr (compulsion). Thus the servant has free choice in his own acquisition (kasb) to the measure of his capacity given by God (Mighty and Majestic), and the [true] religion lies between Jabr and Qadar.

My purpose in [citing] this letter was no more than this single point, but I brought the whole of it because it was exceedingly eloquent and fine; and I brought this whole passage to show that he (may God be pleased with him) had reached such a rank in the knowledge of realities and principles that Hasan al-Basri, for all his eminence in knowledge, directed his inquiry to him.

And among the anecdotes I found that a Bedouin came in from the desert while he was sitting at the door of his house in Kufa. The Bedouin insulted him and cursed his mother and father. He rose and said: 'O Bedouin, if you are hungry, let bread be brought for you; if you are thirsty, let water be brought for you; or what has befallen you?' But the man kept saying: 'You are such-and-such, and your mother and father are such-and-such.' Hasan (may God be pleased with him) ordered his servant to bring out a purse of dinars and gave it to him and said: 'O Bedouin, excuse me, for there is no more than this left in our house; otherwise we would not withhold from you.' When the Bedouin heard this speech, he said: 'I bear witness that you are the son of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him). I testify that you are the son of the Prophet, and I came here only to test your forbearance.'

And this is the attribute of the verifying masters (may God's good pleasure be upon them): that the praise and blame of creatures have become one and the same in their sight, and they are not altered by being spoken to harshly. And God knows best.