Jābir ibn Yazīd al-Juʿfī said: "I served our master, Imām Abā Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī (ʿalayhimā as-salām), for eighteen years. When I was about to depart, I bade him farewell and said: 'Grant me some advice.' He replied: 'After eighteen years, O Jābir?!' I said: 'Yes, indeed, for you are an unfathomable sea whose depths can never be reached.' He then said: 'O Jābir, convey my greetings to my Shīʿah and inform them that there is no kinship between us and Allah (ʿazza wa-jall), and that none can draw near to Him except through obedience to Him. O Jābir, whoever obeys Allah and loves us, then he is our ally; but whoever disobeys Allah, his love for us will be of no benefit to him. O Jābir, who is the one that asks Allah and is not given? Or who relies upon Him and is not sufficed? Or who places his trust in Him and is not saved?! O Jābir, take the world as you would a temporary lodging that you intend to leave. Is this world anything but a mount that you ride in a dream, only to wake up and find yourself upon your bed—neither riding nor holding its reins? Or like a garment you put on? Or like a concubine you approach? O Jābir, to the people of intellect, the world is like the shadow of a cloud. 'Lā ilāha illa Allāh' is an honor for the people of His call; prayer is an affirmation of sincerity and a purification from arrogance; zakāh increases sustenance; fasting and ḥajj bring tranquility to the hearts; retribution and legal punishments preserve lives; and our love—the love of Ahl al-Bayt—is the very order of the religion. May Allah make us and you among those who fear their Lord in the unseen and who are apprehensive of the Hour." Source: Al-Amālī by Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, page 297.