Earning Lawful kind of Sustenance

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ahmad ibn abu Nasr who has said the following: “Once I asked abu al-Hassan عليه السلام, saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, please pray for me to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, so He grants me lawful sustenance.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Do you know what lawful sustenance is?’ I replied, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, according to our information it is clean earning.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Ali ibn Al-Husayn عليه السلام, would say, ‘Lawful sustenance is the sustenance of the chosen ones.’ You, however, should say, ‘I pray to You to grant me wide-ranging sustenance.’”