Imam Ridha’’s (a.s) Kind Behavior To Slaves

Abu Bakr Suli says that his grandmother used to narrate: I and three friends of mine were in the service of Imam Ridha’ (a.s) for many years. The Imam took very less work from us. One day we said to him, “Mamun has sent us to serve you and not to live in comfort.” The Imam said, “It is my service only that you fulfill the obligations of Allah.” The Holy Imam used to teach us the religious rules everyday. Being in the Imam’s service I memorized nearly 400 traditions, that now I have forgotten. Most of the time it so happened that the Imam used to fill up a pot of water for ritual ablution (wuzu), kept it besides us and then awoke us in a very very gentle way saying, “This is not the time to sleep, it is time for Allah’s remembrance.” We used to be very ashamed of such affection of the Holy Imam. When he was martyred we were sent back to Mamun’s house. But in spite of all the facilities available there I felt very lonely and the royal palaces seemed like dark dungeons. I used to remember the Imam (a.s) and weep day and night. Reference :Akhlaq al-A’imma, Morals & Manners of the Holy Imams