English Translation

Abu al-'Ala' al-Hasan ibn Sawwar told us, Layth told us, from Mu'awiyah, from Ayyub ibn Ziyad, Ubadah ibn al-Walid ibn Ubadah told me, my father told me, he said: I entered upon Ubadah while he was ill, and I could perceive death in him, so I said: "O my father, advise me and strive for my sake." He said: "Sit me up." He said: "O my son, you will not taste the flavor of faith, nor will you attain the true reality of knowledge of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, until you believe in predestination, its good and its bad." He said: I said, "O my father, how can I know what is the good of predestination and its bad?" He said: "Know that what missed you was never going to befall you, and what befell you was never going to miss you. O my son, I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: 'Indeed, the first thing Allah, Blessed and Exalted, created was the Pen. Then He said, \"Write.\" So it wrote at that moment all that would be until the Day of Resurrection.' O my son, if you die without holding to that, you will enter the Fire."