modesty...

modesty, exceeding remembrance of Allah, fasting, prayer, being sympathetic and helpful towards the poor, their reading of the Qur'an, saying nothing about a person except concerning his good actions, and they are most trustworthy among those close to them. (O ye who follow!) Observe your duty to Allah, and perform good actions for His reward, for there is no preference by Allah towards anyone.

The most beloved of His servants in the presence of Allah is the best in conduct and obedience to Him.[^8] O Jabir! Nobody can come close to Allah except through obedience. Without this nobody will be saved from Hell, nor can anybody excuse himself before Allah without it. Whosoever obeys Him, he is our friend, but whosoever disobeys Him, he is our enemy. You cannot attain to our friendship except through good actions and virtuousness.

From Imam Baqir's conversation with Sa'id ibn al-Hasan: al-Imam: 'Does it happen to you that one of you approaches his brother and puts his hand into his brother's pocket to take some money of which he is in need, without his brother preventing him?' Sa'id: 'I do not know of such a thing.' 'Then truly, there are no real Shi'i among you.' 'Shall we all perish, in that case?'.

'Yes, indeed, for such people do not put into action what they say.' From Imam Ja'far's conversation with Abi as-Sabah al-Kanani: al-Kanani: 'How much harassment we receive from people for your sake!' al-Imam: 'What harassment do you receive from them?' 'When there is a dispute between one of us and one of them, they immediately condemn us for following you.' 'Do they condemn you for my sake?' 'Yes, indeed!' 'But there are only a few of my followers among you.

Only those who possess great and real virtue, whose acts are only for the sake of the Creator and to obtain his reward, only these are my followers.' There are many traditions from Imam Ja'far concerning these matters. Here we have chosen some of them and written them down. If a man lives in a town with a hundred thousand inhabitants or more, and there is someone in that town whose virtue is greater then his, then that man is not one of my followers.

We do not count among the believers anyone unless he obeys all our commandments. Indeed, righteousness is the only sign of one who follows us. Adorn yourselves with it, and may Allah have Mercy on you. One whose chasteness and abstinence from unlawful sexuality is not the subject of talk among women is not one of our followers.