A barefoot pedestrian joined the caravan to Hejaz from Kufa and accompanied us without any provisions.

He walked gracefully and said:

"Neither am I mounted on a mule, nor am I burdened like a camel

Neither am I a lord of subjects, nor a servant of a king

I have …

One of the righteous saw in a dream a king in paradise and a pious man in hell.

He asked, “What is the reason for the ranks of this one and the degradation of that one? For people believed the opposite.”

A voice replied, “This king is in paradise because …

A king saw a pious man.

He asked, “Do you ever think of me?”

The pious man replied, “Yes, when I forget God.”

Whoever is driven away from Him runs everywhere

But the one He calls does not run to anyone else.

A dervish found himself in need and stole a rug from a friend’s house.

The judge ordered that his hand be cut off.

The owner of the rug interceded, saying, “I have forgiven him.”

The judge replied, “I will not set aside the law for your intercession.”

The owner said, …

I saw a pious man by the seaside who had been wounded by a leopard, and no medicine could heal him.

He had been suffering for a long time, yet he constantly thanked God, the Almighty. They asked him, “Why do you give thanks?” He replied, “I thank God that …

One night in the desert of Mecca, I was so exhausted from sleeplessness that I could no longer walk. I lay down and told the camel driver, “Leave me alone.”

How far can a poor pedestrian go?

The camel is weary from bearing the load

Until the fat body becomes …

In the mosque of Baalbek, I was once delivering a sermon to a group of despondent, lifeless people who had not moved from the world of appearances to the world of meaning.

I saw that my words were not taking effect, and my fire was not igniting the wet wood. …

Someone asked the one who had lost his son:

"O wise and noble elder,

You smelled his shirt from Egypt,

Why did you not see him in the well of Canaan?"

He replied: "Our state is like the lightning of the world,

Visible for a moment and hidden the next. …

One of the pious men of Lebanon, whose spiritual ranks were well-known in the Arab lands and whose miracles were famous, entered the mosque of Damascus and was performing ablution by the side of the Kallasa pond. His foot slipped, and he fell into the pond, struggling to get out. …

One of the nobles was being praised in a gathering, and they were exaggerating his beautiful qualities.

He raised his head and said, “I am what I know myself to be.”

Enough of this praise, O you who count my virtues

This is my outward appearance, but you do not …

I remember that in my childhood, I was devout, waking up at night, and passionate about asceticism and abstinence.

One night, I was sitting with my father, may God’s mercy be upon him, and I had not closed my eyes all night, holding the precious Quran by my side, while …

A pious man was a guest of a king. When they sat down to eat, he ate less than he desired, and when they stood for prayer, he prayed more than his usual habit, so that they would think highly of his piety.

I fear you will not reach the …