Aslam

partner with God. God loves religious men who are not searched for in their absence, who are not taken notice of even in their presence, whose hearts are lighted by the light of providence and who are free from all sorts of darkness end dirtness. Once there was famine in Medina. There was a religious man there whom the people considered as mean. He stayed in the mosque of Medina. When the people were engaged in prayer to God to ward off famine, a man with tattered clothes came there, prayed two rak'at in short and then began to invoke God with his hands spread out : O Lord, I swear by you, shower rain just now. Hardly had he raised up his hands and his invocation ended, the entire sky was filled up with clouds and there was shower of rain. It was so profuse that the dwellers of Medina feared to be drowned, Then he prayed : O God, you know best that it is sufficient for the people, so lift up rain. Then the rain stopped. The religious man followed the man who prayed for rain and recognised his abode.
Why he went to him at dawn, he came out and said : I have come to you on account of necessity. He said : Tell me your necessity.
He said : Oblige me by accepting my invitation. He said : God is pure. It is a wonder that I would oblige you by accepting invitation. Then he said : How did you acquire the rank which I saw? He said : I obeyed what God ordered me and prohibited me.
So I invoked God and He accepted my invocation.

Hazrat Ibn Masud said : Be fountain of learning, be light of guidance, be lamp of night, be jewel of heart and put on old clothes, you will be known to the dwellers of heaven and live unknown to the dwellers of this world. The Prophet said : God says : The object of envy is that believer who makes light the burden on himself, gets delight in prayers, good in divine service, worship[s in secrecy, lives behind the eyes of men, is not shown by fingers and keeps patience. The Prophet made a sound by his hands and said : His death is quick, his heritage is very little and his mourners are very few.

Hazrat Abdullah-b-Omar said : The dearest man to God is Goraba. The people asked : Who is Gorabah? He said : He who flees away from the society with his religion and gathers together with Jesus Christ on the Resurrection Day. Sufiyan Soari said : I wish to see myself with the poor of Medina who live in want of necessary food and with difficulty, the sage Fazil said : If you can make yourself such as the people do not know you, it is better.

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212 The Book of Destructive evils Vol-III

You should be in such a condition that nobody can know you and nobody praises you. It does not matter if you become mean before the people but good to God.

Question : Is there more fame for anybody than that of the Prophets and learned men? Have they lost the merits of not remaining behind the eyes of men?