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(4) The fourth cause is to think that diseases are causes of virtues,. A God-reliant man by giving up medicine wants to make the disease lasting as he will get rich rewards if he can have patience to bear it. The Prophet said with regard to the rewards of diseases and disasters. We are a company of Prophets. The greatest dangers and difficulties befell on us, next on the virtuous people like us, next on the virtous people like them. A man is tried by the degree of faith he possesses. If his faith is firm, dangers on him are severe. If his faith is weak, dangers on him are less. There is in the tradition that God will examine His servant by dangers and difficulties, as one of you examines his gold in fire. Some of them come out pure and free from faults like gold, some less than them, some come out black being burnt. The Prophet said : When God loves a man, he examines him. If he remains patient, He chooses him. If he remains satisfied He loves him. The Prophet said : You love to be like a strayed ass, so that you may not get any disease or ailment.

Ibn Mas'ud said : You will see the mind of a believer sound and his body unsound and the mind of a hypocrite unsound and body sound.

When the rewards of diseases are great, a party of believers love diseases and search them for getting rewards of patience.
For this reason, they don't call physicians. The Prophet said : God says to His angels : Write for My virtuous servant his divine service, as he is tied up with My chain. If I free him from the tie, I will give him better flesh in place of this flesh and better blood in place of this blood. If I take away his life. I will take his life to attract him towards my mercy. The Prophet said : Whose does

Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 239

divine service inspite of his passions, it is the best divine service.
In explaining this, it has been said : The divine service which a man does in his illness and dangers is thebest. This can be guessed from the following verse : Perchance you hate a thing which is better for you.

Hazrat Sahal Tastari used to say : It is better to be unable to do divine service as a result of giving up medicine than to take medicine to gain strength for divine service. He had a serious disease for which he did not take medicine. Whenever he saw a person unable to pray standing and doing good deeds owing to illness and for which he took medicine to gain strength he expressed wonder and said : It is better for this man to pray sitting and to remain satisfied in his condition than to gain strength by taking medicine in order to pray standing. The people of Basara used to make their passions weak by hunger to curb temptation, as they knew that a little action of mind, such as patience and God-reliance, is better than a mountain like actions of bodily limbs. Disease does not prevent the working of mind. Sahal Tastari said : Physical disease is good but mental disease is bad.