Promptness in Good Deeds
Al-Kāfi|Volume 2|Book 1|Chapter 65
5ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ أَبَانِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ عَنْ بَشِيرِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ إِذَا أَرَدْتَ شَيْئاً مِنَ الْخَيْرِ فَلا تُؤَخِّرْهُ فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ يَصُومُ الْيَوْمَ الْحَارَّ يُرِيدُ مَا عِنْدَ الله فَيُعْتِقُهُ الله بِهِ مِنَ النَّارِ وَلا تَسْتَقِلَّ مَا يُتَقَرَّبُ بِهِ إِلَى الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَلَوْ شِقَّ تَمْرَةٍ.
5. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Ali ibn al-Hakam from Aban ibn ‘Uthman from Bashir ibn Yasar from Abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام who has said the following: “When you intend to perform anything good, then do not delay. A man may fast on a hot day and hope thereby to receive what is with Allah, and Allah then sets him free from fire. Do not underestimate the good deeds with which one may seek nearness to Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, even if it is a piece of a date.”
- Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (8/335)
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 86