On Traditions From al-Ridha About Unity
ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā|Volume 1|Book 2|Chapter 11
41 - حَدَّثَنا أَبي رَضِىَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا سَعْدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّه، عَن إِبْراهيمِ بْنِ هاشِم، عَن أَحْمَدِ بْنِ سُلَيْمان قالَ سَأَلَ رَجُلٌ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ وَهُوَفِي الطَّوَافِ فَقَالَ لَهُ أَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ الْجَوَادِ فَقَالَ إِنَّ لِكَلامِكَ وَجْهَيْنِ فَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَسْأَلُ عَنِ الَْمخْلُوقِ فَإِنَّ الْجَوَادَ الَّذِي يُؤَدِّي مَا افْتَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْهِ وَالْبَخِيلَ مَنْ بَخِلَ بِمَا افْتَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْنِي الْخَالِقَ فَهُوَ الْجَوَادُ إِنْ أَعْطَى وَهُوَ الْجَوَادُ إِنْ مَنَعَ لانَّهُ إِنْ أَعْطَى عَبْداً أَعْطَاهُ مَالَيْسَ لَهُ وَإِنْ مَنَعَ مَنَعَ مَا لَيْسَ لَهُ.
11-41 (The author of the book narrated) my father - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Sa’d ibn Abdullah quoted on the authority of Ibrahim ibn Hashem quoted on the authority of Ahmad ibn Soleiman, “A man asked Abul Hassan صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم while he صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم was performing the circumambulations (around the Kaaba), ‘Please tell me about the munificent.’ The Imam صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم said, ‘There are two sides to your question. If you are asking about the creatures, then a munificent servant is one who performs the obligatory deeds, while a miser is someone who is miserly in performing what the Sublime God has made incumbent upon him. Butif you are asking about the Creator you should know that He is the Munificent whether He gives or not. That is because if He grants something to His servant, He has granted him what does not belong to him, and if He holds something back from His servant, that servant has no rights to it.’”