Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

It is narrated from Hazrat Ubaid bin Umair that he said: A man had three friends. Some of them were closer than others. He (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Then a calamity befell this man. So he went to the closest of his friends and said: O so-and-so! Such-and-such calamity has befallen me and I wish to seek your help. That friend said: I do not do such things. So the man went to the next closest friend and said: O so-and-so! Such-and-such calamity has befallen me and I wish to seek your help. That friend said: I will go with you as far as you wish to go. Then when you reach your destination, I will return and leave you. Then the man went to the least significant of his friends and said: O so-and-so! The matter is that such-and-such calamity has befallen me and I wish to seek your help. That friend said: I will go with you wherever you go, and wherever you enter, I will enter with you. Hazrat Ubaid says: The first friend is his wealth, which he left among his family. Nothing from that wealth went with him. The second friend is his family and relatives, who go with him up to his grave, then leave him and return. The third friend is his deeds, which are with him wherever he goes, and will enter with him wherever he enters.