141 - ʿAlī ibn Abī Maryam narrated to me, from Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Aṣbahānī, he said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Ṣubayḥ al-ʿIjlī say: "The patient ones have been given blessings from God upon them and mercy from Him for them, so who is there that can attain their virtue except one who is among them? Joy to the patient ones! How elevated is their rank, and how high are their stations there! By God, the people attained that only by His grace and granting of success, so to Him belongs all praise for what He has bestowed of His bounty and granted of His favors, and to Him belongs abundant praise upon us and upon all His creation. For He is the Self-Sufficient, so no bestower can withhold from Him; and He is the Most Generous, so no petitioner can exhaust Him; and He is the Praiseworthy, so no speaker can reach His full praise. And we are His servants: among us is the forsaken one who was deprived of His obedience and did not refrain patiently from His disobedience, and among us is the obedient one whom He guided to His pleasure and enabled to patiently refrain from the world and the disobedience therein. Then after that, He overwhelmed us with His grace and said: {My mercy encompasses all things} [al-Aʿrāf: 156]. Thus we hope to attain it by His grace, even if we are not worthy of it due to our evil, ugly deeds. How shameful it is before a Generous Being who honors you while you expose yourself to what He dislikes morning and evening!"