Aslam

(16) The great saint Abdul Waned said: Once I passed by the sanctuary of a saint of China and asked the saint: O pious man. He did not reply. I asked him the second time but still he did not reply. At the third time, I called him and he approached me and said: O brother. I am not a recluse. A recluse is he who fears Allah in heaven, honours Him for his glory, forbears in dangers and difficulties, remains satisfied with Taqdir or predecree, expresses gratitude for his gifts, praises Him for His gifts, expresses humility before His glory, surrenders before His power, thinks over His taking to our accounts and punishments, fasts during His day and prays during His night, keeps awake in fear of His questions. He who has got these virtues may be. called a recluse or one who renunciates the world. I am a biting dog. I have become isolated from the people, so that I am unable to attack them. I asked him: O one who has renunciated the world, what thing makes a man isolated after he knows of God? He said: O my brother, mere love of the world and its fineries cut off a man from God, because the world is a place of sins and faults. He is wise who removes these things from his mind, repents to Allah

- for his sins and does what takes him near God.

(17) The great saint Daud Tai was asked: Why do you keep your beard without care? He said: Where is my time for that?

(18) The great saint Wais Qarni used to say: This is a night of Ruku. In that night he kept awake in Ruku. The next night he spent in prostration.

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(19) The great saint Otbatul Golam always acted in opposition to his lower self. He never tasted delicious food and drink. Once his mother said to him, O my dear son, have pity on your body, He said: I seek Allah's mercy. I seek eternal happiness of the next world by suffering a little in this world.

(20) The saint Qahmas used to pray daily one thousand Rakats of prayer and say afterwards: O the root of all evils, rise up. When he became weak, he lessened his prayer to 500 Rakats and said on weeping: Half of my service has gone away.

(21) The daughter of the saint Rabi-b-Khasim said: O father, I see the people enjoying sleep but I don't see you enjoying it. He said: O my darling, your father fears the fire of Hell. When the mother of Rabi saw that his son was weeping excessively and passing sleepless nights, she said to her son: O my darling, you have perhaps killed somebody. He said, O my mother, yes, I have killed. His mother said to him: Whom have you killed? I will take pardon of the family members of the murdered person. By God, if they see your condition, they will certainly show kindness to you and pardon you. He said: O mother, I have killed my baser self.