Aslam

When the Prophet read this verse: If God wishes to guide anyone, He expands his breast for Islam ( 6 : 125), he was asked as to the meaning of expansion of breast and he said: This is light.
When it is cast into heart, it expands. He was asked: Has it got any sign? The Prophet replied: Yes, to be separate from this world of deceit, to turn to the hereafter and to prepare for death before it actually comes.

(10) TENTH SIGN: Another sign of the learned man of the hereafter is that he studies the learning of practice and avoids such leanings as destroy actions, keep mind anxious and provoke evils. The root of religion is to be careful of evil deeds. For this reason, a poet said:

I have not known evil for evil's sake.
I have not known it but to live.
He who is ignorant of the evil of men.
Falls un 'to'it al though he is wise.

Hasan Basari was the man whose words had the greatest similarity to those of the Prophet and whose ways of life nearest ■ to those of the companions. He was asked: O Abu Sayeed, you utter such words which nobody knows except you. Wherefrom have you got them? He said: From Huzaifah, Huzaifah was asked: You utter such words which no companion heard except you. Wherefrom have you got them? He said: From the Messenger of God, He was always asked about good deeds but I used to ask him about evil deeds, so that I may not fall therein.
The companions were want to ask the Prophet: O Apostle of God, what are the rewards of one who does such and such good deeds?
I used to ask him: O Apostle of God, what corrupts the deeds? So Hazrat Huzaifa had special knowledge about hypocrisy, hypocrites and subtleties of dangers and difficulties.

The natural way of the actions of the learned men of the hereafter is to make efforts about the different conditions of heart but this knowledge is now rare. Whenever anything of it is

88 THE BOOK OF WORSHIP Vol-I

presented to a learned man, he expresses wonder at it and says thatitis the deception of one who believe* sermons. A poet said:

"The true path is one out of many paths.

Very few are so journers to this path.

Their goal is obscure, they are unknown.

Slowly and steadily they march to their destination,

People are indifferent to their goal,,

Ignorant also are they of the true path."

It has been said that at Basra there were 120 men of scholastic theology regarding speech and Zikr but there were only three men regarding the knowledge of Yeqin or certain faith and the conditions of soul and secret attributes. They were Sahal Tastari, Shu'bi and Abdur Rahman.