My master told him the story from its beginning to its end. When the Merchant heard the story and verified faith from us, he said to my master: 'Inform me of the amount of wealth you brought here?' My master said to him: 'I brought here ten thousand dirhams, and I have trade and a large amount of goods with me; see what you want so that I may bring it to you.' The Merchant said: 'You must bring me ten thousand dirhams.'
My master ordered me to bring them, and I brought them. When they were before him, he divided them into two halves and said to my master: 'These are five thousand dirhams for you to take to assist you in your travel on your return.' My master said: 'And the other five thousand that you are taking—in what capacity are you taking them?' He said: 'They are the price of the jewel.' My master said: 'I do not think you know its value.' He said to him: 'Will you inform me how much its value is?' My master said to him: 'And why is that?' He said: 'I intended to spend its value on doors of righteousness.'
My master said to him: 'Will you add the other five thousand and expend it for the sake of righteousness, giving it to those who deserve it?' He said to him: 'Those whose view I hold and whose religion I follow before Allah do not accept my charity, nor do they permit themselves to take my wealth, nor do they seek connection with me; rather, they enjoin one another to boycott me.' My master said to him: 'And why is that?' He said: 'If I mention the matter to you, it would be a shortcoming upon me.' My master said to him: 'I adjure you by Allah to inform me of that, so that I may do in it what you choose and aim for what is mandatory.'
He said to him: 'In this city of ours, there is a group of believers; they are a few individuals. You see them in the form of humans, but if you test them, you find them in the meaning of the Archangels. Their bodies are separate but their spirits are one spirit. A man among them almost worships his brother. The entire world, in their view, is not worth the wing of a gnat. Not one of them cares, if he has his day's nourishment,