Chapter IV: Poverty and Renunciation
Once the Prophet went to his daughter Fatema who was then turning round a grinding mill. He had then in his person a cloth made a camel's hairs. The Prophet saw this condition of Fatema and began to weep and said : O Fatema, you are having this suffering to be blessed with everlasting happiness. At once the revelation came : Soon your Lord will give you such things as you will be pleased therewith. The Prophet said : My highest Lord informed me about my people the pious among them will see the amount of the grace of God and will become glad openly and weep secretly fearing His punishment. Their burden on the people is light but their burden on them is heavy. They put on old cloths and follow those who have renunciated the world. Their bodies are in their world, but their minds keep near the Throne.
These are the practices of the Prophet regarding dress. He lift instructions to his followers to follow him, as he said : He who loves me shall follow my ways of life. He also said : You should follow my ways and after me the ways of the rightly guided Caliphs. Hold it first with your front teeth. God said : Say, if you love God, follow me, God then will love you.
The Prophet gave Ayesha this special instruction : O Ayesha, if you like to stay with me, give up the assembly of the rich and don't leave a cloth until it is stitched. Twelve stitiches .
were found in the shirt of Hazrat Omar some of which were of hides. Once Hazrat AH purchased a piece of cloth worth three dirhams. Its sleeves was long and therefore he tore it of f and said:
All praise is due to God who gave me to put it on out of kindness.
The saint Sufiyan said : Put on such cloth as would not meet with disgrace from the learned and the ilitterate. He said : If any poor man passes by me while I pray, I think it my duty to pray for him.
If at that time any worldly man passes by me with arms. I become displeased with him and I don't think it my duty to pray for him.
An ancient sage said : Put on such cloth as therewith you can mix with the people in market and use not such cloth as atracts the attention of the people.
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