Hawzah News Agency - Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abdallah has narrated from Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Ahmar from Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Daylami from his father who said:

قُلْتُ لابِي عَبْدِ الله  فُلانٌ مِنْ عِبَادَتِهِ وَدِينِهِ وَفَضْلِهِ فَقَالَ كَيْفَ عَقْلُهُ قُلْتُ لا أَدْرِي فَقَالَ إِنَّ الثَّوَابَ عَلَى قَدْرِ الْعَقْلِ إِنَّ رَجُلاً مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانَ يَعْبُدُ الله فِي جَزِيرَةٍ مِنْ جَزَائِرِ الْبَحْرِ خَضْرَاءَ نَضِرَةٍ كَثِيرَةِ الشَّجَرِ ظَاهِرَةِ الْمَاءِ وَإِنَّ مَلَكاً مِنَ الْمَلائِكَةِ مَرَّ بِهِ فَقَالَ يَا رَبِّ أَرِنِي ثَوَابَ عَبْدِكَ هَذَا فَأَرَاهُ الله تَعَالَى ذَلِكَ فَاسْتَقَلَّهُ الْمَلَكُ فَأَوْحَى الله تَعَالَى إِلَيْهِ أَنِ اصْحَبْهُ فَأَتَاهُ الْمَلَكُ فِي صُورَةِ إِنْسِيٍّ فَقَالَ لَهُ مَنْ أَنْتَ قَالَ أَنَا رَجُلٌ عَابِدٌ بَلَغَنِي مَكَانُكَ وَعِبَادَتُكَ فِي هَذَا الْمَكَانِ فَأَتَيْتُكَ لاعْبُدَ الله مَعَكَ فَكَانَ مَعَهُ يَوْمَهُ ذَلِكَ فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ قَالَ لَهُ الْمَلَكُ إِنَّ مَكَانَكَ لَنَزِهٌ وَمَا يَصْلُحُ إِلا لِلْعِبَادَةِ فَقَالَ لَهُ الْعَابِدُ إِنَّ لِمَكَانِنَا هَذَا عَيْباً فَقَالَ لَهُ وَمَا هُوَ قَالَ لَيْسَ لِرَبِّنَا بَهِيمَةٌ فَلَوْ كَانَ لَهُ حِمَارٌ رَعَيْنَاهُ فِي هَذَا الْمَوْضِعِ فَإِنَّ هَذَا الْحَشِيشَ يَضِيعُ فَقَالَ لَهُ ذَلِكَ الْمَلَكُ وَمَا لِرَبِّكَ حِمَارٌ فَقَالَ لَوْ كَانَ لَهُ حِمَارٌ مَا كَانَ يَضِيعُ مِثْلُ هَذَا الْحَشِيشِ فَأَوْحَى الله إِلَى الْمَلَكِ إِنَّمَا أُثِيبُهُ عَلَى قَدْرِ عَقْلِهِ.

“Once I mentioned someone's intelligence, worship and virtues before Abu ‘Abdillah (al-Sadiq) . So he said, 'How is his intelligence?'. I said, ‘I do not know.’ He then said, 'Reward is based on the degree of intelligence. A man from Bani Isra'eel was worshipping Allah on an island in the ocean. The island was lush green, with many trees and abundant water. Once an angel passed by the worshipper on the island and said, 'Oh Lord, show me the amount of reward this servant of yours has.' So Allah showed the rewards of the man to the angel and the angel considered it very little. Then Allah told the angel to stay with the worshipper as a companion. The angel then appeared to the worshipper in the form of a human being. The worshipper asked, 'Who are you?'. The angel said, 'I am a worshipping man and have heard about your [great] worship and your [spiritual] position at this place and I wish to join you so I may worship Allah with you.' So the angel spent that day with the worshipper and the next day the angel said to the worshipper, 'Your place is pure, and it should be used only for worship.' Then the man said, 'Yes but it has one flaw.’ The angel asked, 'What is it?'. The man replied, 'Our Lord does not have an animal, for if He had a donkey or such it would graze here, for otherwise this grass goes to waste.” The angel asked him, "Does your Lord have no donkey?" The man replied, “Had our Lord had a donkey this field would not be wasted.” Allah then revealed to the angel, “I only reward him by the degree of his intelligence.”

Al-Kāfi, v.1