١٦ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَسْبَاطٍ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِهِ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) أَنَّهُ قَالَ الإبْقَاءُ عَلَى الْعَمَلِ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْعَمَلِ قَالَ وَمَا الإبْقَاءُ عَلَى الْعَمَلِ قَالَ يَصِلُ الرَّجُلُ بِصِلَةٍ وَيُنْفِقُ نَفَقَةً لله وَحْدَهُ لا شَرِيكَ لَهُ فَكُتِبَ لَهُ سِرّاً ثُمَّ يَذْكُرُهَا وَتُمْحَى فَتُكْتَبُ لَهُ عَلانِيَةً ثُمَّ يَذْكُرُهَا فَتُمْحَى وَتُكْتَبُ لَهُ رِيَاءً.
16. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ali ibn Asbat from certain individuals of his people from abu Ja’far  who has said the following: “Abu Ja’far  has said, ‘ ’Ibqa (preservation) of a deed is more difficult than performing the deed.’ The narrator then asked, ‘What is ‘ IbqcCT The Imam said, ‘It is when a man maintains good relations with relatives or spends something just for the sake of Allah, Who has no partners. This will be recorded for him as a good deed, performed secretly. He then mentions it to people, and then it (deed performed secretly) is deleted but is recorded as a good deed performed publicly. Then he mentions it to people again and it then is deleted and is recorded as a deed to show off.’” 