1 . أَخْبَرَنَا جُبَيْرُ بْنُ عَطَاءٍ الْخُجَنْدِيُّ، قَالَ: رَأَى الْمَنْصُورُ حَجَرًا فِي عُنُقِ رَجُلٍ فَقَالَ لَهُ: مَا هَذَا؟! قَالَ: حَجَرٌ يَدْفَعُ عَنِّي الْبَلَاءَ! فَأَخَذَهُ مِنْ عُنُقِهِ وَأَلْقَاهُ فِي النَّهْرِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: مَا دَفَعَ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ الْبَلَاءَ فَكَيْفَ يَدْفَعُهُ عَنْكَ؟! تَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلًا.
Translation of the saying:
Jubair ibn Ata’ al-Khujandi informed us, he said: Mansoor saw a stone around a man’s neck. So he said to him: “What is this?” He said: “It is a stone that wards off calamity from me!” (Mansoor) then took it from his neck and threw it into a ditch. Then he said: “It did not ward off calamity from itself, so how can it ward it off from you?! Put your trust in Allah, for Allah is sufficient as a Protector.”
2 . أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْبَلْخِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ لِأَصْحَابِهِ: إِيَّاكُمْ وَهَذِهِ التَّمَائِمَ؛ فَإِنَّهَا بَقِيَّةٌ مِنَ الْأَوْثَانِ.
Translation of the saying:
Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Balkhi informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say to his companions: “Avoid these amulets; because they are remnants of idols.”
Explanation of the saying:
«تمائم»; “Tma’im” is the plural of «تمیمة»; “Tamimah,” which refers to a bead or something similar that is hung on the hand, neck, or elsewhere to ward off calamity, protect against the evil eye, or attract good. In the view of His Eminence, it is something that has remained from idols; because idols were also objects like these, which, according to the belief of polytheists, warded off evil or brought about good.
For more information on this, refer to Q&A 164.