When the slave had brought the branch...

When the slave had brought the branch, the Sheikh said to him: “Now take this branch to the pigeon-fancier and ask him not to throw stones but to use this instead to make the pigeons fly.”[^4] Tolerance Towards the Commander’s Deeds While Hisham Ibn Isma`il (the maternal uncle of ‘Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan) was the governor of Madinah, having been appointed by Yazid, he used to harass Imam Sajjad (as) immensely.

When he was dismissed from the post, Walid took his place, ordered him to be arrested and placed him in custody so that all those people who had grievances against him could come forward and seek compensation. Hisham said, “I do not fear anyone except ‘Ali Ibn al-Husain (as).” This fear was because he had subjected the Imam (as) to enormous troubles.

However, the Imam (as) had instructed some of the individuals known to him (and who had had a hand in Hisham’s arrest) not to cause any harm to him, even by using a bad word. He even sent a message to Hisham stating: “Listen, if you are unable to pay the money which they have imposed upon you as penalty and punishment, we can arrange to have it paid for you. Rest assured!

You need not be worried, either with respect to us or with respect to our followers.” When Hisham realised the Imam’s civility and courteousness towards him in spite of his improper conduct, he recited aloud[^5]: “Allah knows best where He places His message.”[^6] Qais Minqari A narrator says: “I learnt to practice forbearance from Qais Ibn ‘Asim Minqari. Once, I watched him preaching and exhorting the people as he leaned on his sword in front of his house.

In the course of his preaching, I observed that some people came to him with a dead body together with a person whose hands were tied. “This is your nephew and he has killed your son,” they said to Qais. The narrator continues: “By Allah! Qais neither discontinued his speech nor did he get up from his place. Instead, he continued till his speech finished, after which, he turned to his nephew and said: “O’ Nephew!