There is no child for me to die, and no house to be destroyed.

There is no child for me to die, and no house to be destroyed.”[^4] Regarding [the ayah of the Qur’an]: And I inform you of what you eat and of what you store in your houses (3:49), Imam al-Baqir (‘a) said, “Surely, Jesus (‘a) used to say to the children of Israel, ‘Indeed I am the Apostle of Allah to you, and I create something like the form of a bird for you out of clay, and I blow into it, then it becomes a bird by the permission of Allah, and I cure the born blind and the leper.’ They said, ‘We see what you do as nothing but sorcery.

So, show us a sign that we may know that you are true.’ He said, ‘Tell me, if I inform you of what you eat and of what you store in your houses, of what you have eaten in your houses before you left them and of what you stored for night, will you know that I am true?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ Then he said to some of the men, ‘You ate this and that, and you drank this and that, and you put up this and that.’ Then some accepted him and believed, and some disbelieved.

That was a sign for them if they were believers.”[^5] Jesus (‘a) said, “My servant is my hands and my mount is my feet; my bed is the earth and my pillow, a stone; my blanket in the winter is the east of the earth and my lamp in the night is the moon; my stew is hunger and my motto is fear; my clothing is wool and my fruit and my basil is what grows from the earth for the wild beasts and cattle.

I sleep while I have nothing and I rise while I have nothing, and yet there is no one on earth more wealthy than I.”[^6] It is reported that Abu ‘Abd Allah (‘a) said, “Jesus the son of Mary (‘a) among his sayings to the children of Israel said, ‘I entered into the morning among you while my stew has been hunger, my food has been something that grows from the earth for the wild animals and beasts, my lamp has been the moon, my carpet has been the earth and my pillow has been stone.

There is no house for me that may be ruined, no property which may be destroyed, no child who may die and no wife who may become sad.

I enter into the morning while there is nothing for me and enter into the night while there is nothing for me, and I am the most wealthy person among the children of Adam.”[^7] One of the Imams is reported to have said, “It was said to Jesus the son of Mary (‘a), ‘How did you begin the morning, O Spirit of Allah?’ He said, ‘I began the morning with my Lord, the Blessed and Supreme, above me and the fire (of hell) before me and death in pursuit of me.