Kitāb al-Zuhd 1, record 288 of the digital edition

Translation

2.ʿAlī ibn al-Nuʿmān narrated from Ibn Muskān, from Abū Ḥamzah, from Yaḥyā ibn ʿAqīl, from Ḥabashī who said, “Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a) [once] addressed the people. [He started by] praising Allah and glorifying Him, and he remembered his cousin Muḥammad (ṣ) and sent blessings [and salutations] upon him, then he said, ‘Now then, verily those who came before you were only destroyed due to the sins that they committed while their rabbis and scholars did not forbid them from that. Then, when they became excessive in committing sins, punishments descended upon them. So enjoin good and forbid [each other from] evil, and know that enjoining good and forbidding evil neither bring death closer nor do they sever [the means of one’s] livelihood. Indeed, the [divine] command descends from the sky to the earth like drops of rain; to every individual [comes] what is ordained by Allah to increase or decrease. So if any of you is afflicted by a calamity in his family, his wealth, or himself, and sees a punishment[1] brother, then let it not be an ordeal for him. [That is because] he awaits one of two [possible] good outcomes: either a caller from Allah [in the form of death], in which case what is with Allah is better for him, or sustenance from Allah. If he possesses a family, or wealth, or children, that is the tillage of this world, and good deeds are surely the tillage of the Hereafter, and Allah may gather both of these for some groups [thereby granting them the tillage of both this world and the Hereafter].”

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