Kitāb al-Zuhd 1, narration 24

Translation

21.Muḥammad ibn Sinān narrated from Ibn Muskān, from al-Ḥasan al Ṣayqal who said, “I was sitting with Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) when he sent one of his non-Arab servant boys on an errand to a person. The boy left and then returned so Abū ʿAbdillāh began asking him and seeking an explanation from him, but the young lad did not understand him, and this happened a number of times.” He (the narrator) said, “When I saw that his speech did not change and he was not able to understand, I thought that Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) would get angry on him. [However,] Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) looked at him sternly and then said, ‘By Allah, even if you are unable to speak with your tongue, you are not unable to communicate with your heart [and mind]!’ Then he said, ‘Verily modesty, chastity, and inarticulateness – the inarticulateness of the tongue, not of the heart – are part of faith, [1] while immodesty, obscenity and insolence are part of hypocrisy.’”

Translation: Shaykh Tahir Ridha Jaffer — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.