ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā 1, record 304 of the digital edition

Translation

30-9 According to the same documentation, on the authority of Al-Ridha (s), on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja’far (s), “As-Sadiq (s) was traveling along with a group of people who were carrying some valuable goods for trade. They were informed that there were armed robbers along the road who would steal all their goods. The travelers all became afraid. As-Sadiq (s) asked them, ‘What is wrong with you?’ They said, ‘We have goods which the robbers may steal. Will you keep them for us? It may happen that when the robbers see that they are your goods, they will not take them away.’ The Imam (s) said, ‘How do you know? They maybe after no one but me. This way you will be the cause of my death’ They said, ‘Then what should we do? Should we bury the goods?’ The Imam (s) said, ‘That is even worse. It may be that a stranger finds them and takes them away, or you may never be able to find them again.’ They said, ‘Then please guide us as to what we must do.’ The Imam (s) said, ‘Entrust your goods to someone to guard the goods, increase them and make each portion of them greater than all that is in the world and return them to you with all the profit when you really need them.’ They asked, ‘To whom?’ The Imam (s) said, ‘To the Lord of the Two Worlds.’ They asked, ‘How can we entrust the goods to Him?’ The Imam (s) said, ‘Give charity to the poor Muslims.’ They said, ‘But there are no poor Muslims here.’ The Imam (s) said, ‘Decide to give one-third in charity so that God protects the rest of your goods and guards you against what you are afraid of.’ They said, ‘We accept. We pledge to do so.’ The Imam (s) said, ‘Now you are under the protection of God. Move ahead.’ They moved ahead until they saw the flags of the highway robbers. They got scared. As-Sadiq (s) asked them, ‘Why are you scared? You are under the protection of the Honorable the Exalted God.’ The armed robbers rode up to them, got off their horses and came up to Imam As-Sadiq (s).They kissed his hands and said, ‘We dreamt of God’s Prophet (s) last night. He ordered us to introduce ourselves to you and be at your service. Now we will accompany you and guard you and the caravan until you safely reach your destination.’ As-Sadiq (s) said, ‘We do not need you. He who protected us against you will guard us against other enemies.’ They finished their trip safely and donated one-third of the goods in charity. Their business boomed, and they earned a lot of profit such that each Dirham they had invested was returned to them tenfold. They told themselves, ‘How greatly was the blessedness of As-Sadiq (s)!’ Then the Imam (s) told them, ‘Now you have realized how profitable it is to make deals with the Honorable the Exalted God. Therefore continue doing that.’”

Translation: Dr. Ali Peiravi — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.