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And among them: the sword of the Sunna, the beauty of the Path, the expounder of gnosis, and the adornment of purity, Abu Muhammad Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali, al-Sadiq, may Allah's pleasure be upon them all.

He was of exalted state and excellent conduct, adorned in his outward being and flourishing in his inward being. He has beautiful allusions in the whole of the sciences, and the subtlety of his speech and the strength of his meanings are renowned among the masters, may Allah be pleased with them all. And he has well-known books in the exposition of this Path.

They relate from him that he said: 'Whoever knows God turns away from all besides Him.' The gnostic (arif) is turned away from all other-than-God and cut off from secondary causes; for his knowledge (marifat) of Him is the very ignorance (nakirat) of all besides, since ignorance of all other-than-Him is knowledge of Him, and knowledge of other-than-Him is ignorance of Him. Thus the gnostic is severed from creation and joined to the Truth. Others hold in his heart no such measure that he would pay them regard, nor does he grant their existence such consequence that he would fix the remembrance of them in his mind.

And they also relate from him that he said: 'Worship is not valid without repentance. So He put repentance before worship, and God, Exalted is He, said: The repenters, the worshippers (9:112).' Worship is not made right except through repentance, so that God, Exalted is He, placed repentance before worship; because repentance is the beginning of the stations and servanthood is their end. And when God, majestic is His majesty, made mention of the disobedient, He commanded them to repentance and said: 'And turn all together to God (24:31)'; and when He mentioned the Messenger, upon him be peace, He mentioned him with servanthood and said: 'So He revealed to His servant what He revealed (53:10).'

And in the anecdotes I found that Dawud al-Ta'i, may Allah's mercy be upon him, came to him and said: 'O son of the Messenger of God, give me a counsel, for my heart has grown black.' He said: 'O Abu Sulayman, you are the ascetic of your age; what need have you of my counsel?' He said: 'O son of the Prophet, you have merit over all creatures, and your giving counsel to all creatures is an obligation.' He said: 'O Abu Sulayman, I fear that on the Day of Resurrection my grandfather will lay hold of me, saying: Why did you not fulfill the right of following me? And this affair does not rest upon sound lineage and strong cause. This affair is well only through good works in the presence of the Truth, Exalted is He.' Dawud fell to weeping and said: 'O my Lord, the one whose clay is compounded of the water of prophethood and whose nature is composed of the very root of proof and argument, whose grandfather is the Messenger and whose mother is the Immaculate (Batul) — he is in such bewilderment; who then is Dawud that he should grow conceited over his own works?'

And it is also related from him that one day he was seated with his companions and said to them: 'Come, let us make a covenant and bind a pledge that whoever among us attains salvation shall intercede for all the rest on the Day of Resurrection.' They said: 'O son of the Messenger of God, what need have you of our intercession, when your grandfather is the intercessor of all creatures?' He said: 'With these deeds of mine I am ashamed to look upon the face of my grandfather on the Day of Resurrection.'

All of this is the vision of the faults of the self (nafs), and this quality is among the qualities of perfection. All those firmly established in the presence of God, majestic is His majesty — of the saints, prophets, and messengers — were upon this. And the Prophet, upon him be peace, said: 'When God wills good for a servant, He makes him see the faults of his own self and the faults of this world.' And 'Whoever, out of humility, bows his head in servanthood, God, Exalted is He, raises high his remembrance in both worlds.'

And were I to mention the whole of the People of the House and enumerate the virtues of each one, this book — nay, many books — would not carry a tenth of a tenth of it. So this measure is sufficient for the guidance of a people whose intellect is clothed in the garment of comprehension, among the disciples and the deniers of this Path.

Now I shall bring, by way of brevity and abridgement in this book, the mention of the People of the Bench (Ahl al-Suffa) of the Messenger, upon him be peace. And before this we composed a book and named it 'Minhaj al-Din,' and in it we set forth the virtues of each one in detail; but here we shall bring only the names and epithets in brief, so that your aim — may God strengthen you — may be attained. And with God is the granting of success.