Muhammad b. Ibrahim narrated to us. He said: Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Hamadani narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. al-Hasan b. `Ali b. Faddal narrated to us from his father from Abi’l Hasan `Ali b. Musa al-Rida from his father Musa b. Ja`far from his father al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father al-Baqir Muhammad b. `Ali from his father Zayn al-`Abidin `Ali b. al-Husayn from his father the Master of Martyrs al-Husayn b. `Ali from his father the Master of Deputies Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali b. Abi Talib . He said:

The Messenger of Allah (s) delivered a sermon to us one day and said: O people! The month of Allah has come to you in blessing, mercy, and forgiveness. It is a month that is considered by Allah to be the best of months. Its days are the best of days, its nights are the best of nights, and its hours are the best of hours. It is a month in which you were invited to be the guests of Allah, thus you became the people of Allah’s benevolence. In it, your breath is glorification, your sleep is worship, your deeds are accepted, and your supplications are granted. So, ask Allah, your Lord, with honest intentions and pure hearts, to support you in your fasting therein and your recitation of His Book, for surely, the wretched is he who misses the forgiveness of Allah in this great month. Remember, in your hunger and your thirst therein, the hunger and thirst of the Day of Resurrection. Give charity to your poor and needy folk, respect your elders, be merciful to your young, connect with your relatives, guard your tongues, lower your gaze from that which you are prohibited from looking at, withhold from that which you are prohibited from listening to, show mercy to the orphans of the people and your orphans, and repent to Allah of your sins. Raise your hands to Him in supplication at the time of your prayers, for that is the best time – Allah looks to His servants with mercy therein, He answers them if they whisper to Him, He fulfills them if they call to Him, He grants to them if they ask Him, and He answers them if they supplicate to Him. O people! Whoever among you feeds a fasting believer in this month, it will be as though, in the sight of Allah, he freed a slave; and his past sins will be forgiven. So, it was said: O Messenger of Allah! Not all of us are capable of that. So, he (s) said: Fear the Fire, even with regards to half a date. Fear the Fire, even with regards to a drink of water. O people! Whoever beautifies his character in this month will be given a permit on the Path on the Day when feet will falter. Whoever eases the affairs of his slave in this month, Allah will ease his judgment. Whoever withholds his evil therein, Allah will withhold His anger against him on the Day he meets Him. Whoever is generous to an orphan therein, Allah will be generous to him on the Day he meets Him. Whoever connects with his relatives therein, Allah will connect him with His mercy on the Day he meets Him. Whoever cuts off his relatives therein, Allah will cut His mercy off from him on the Day he meets Him. Whoever offers voluntary prayers therein, Allah will record a dissociation from the Fire for him. Whoever offers an obligatory prayer therein, he will have the reward of one who offers seventy obligatory prayers in other months. Whoever increases in blessing me therein, Allah will make his scale weighty on the Day when scales are lightened. Whoever recites one verse of the Quran therein, he will have the reward of one who completes the Quran in other months. O people! Surely, the gates of Paradise are open in this month, so ask your Lord to not lock them for you. The gates of Hellfire are locked, so ask your Lord to not open them to you. The devils are bound, so ask your Lord to not unleash them for you. Amir al-Mu’minin said: I stood and said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! What is the best of deeds in this month? So, he said: O Aba’l Hasan! The best of deeds in this month is piety with regards to what Allah has prohibited. Then, he wept, so I said: O Messenger of Allah! What has caused you to weep? So, he said: O `Ali! I weep over the trespassing that will occur against you during this month. It is as though I am with you and you are praying to your Lord, when the most wretched of the former and latter peoples – the brother of the one who slaughtered the she-camel of Thamud – strikes you upon the side of your head, from which your beard will be dyed. Amir al-Mu’minin said: So, I said: O Messenger of Allah! Will I be at peace with my religion? So, he said: You will be at peace with your religion. Then, he (s) said: O `Ali! Whoever kills you has killed me, whoever angers you has angered me, and whoever insults you has insulted me, because you are from me like my own self. Your spirit is from my spirit and your clay is from my clay. Surely, Allah created me and you, chose me and you, selected me for prophethood, and selected you for Imamate – so, whoever denies your Imamate has denied my prophethood. O `Ali! You are my deputy, the father of my descendants, the husband of my daughter, and my vicegerent over my Nation in my lifetime and after my death. Your order is my order, and your prohibition is my prohibition. I swear by Him who sent me with prophethood and made me the best of people, you are the Proof of Allah over His creation, His trustee over His secret, and His vicegerent over His servants.