and would content himself with bread and olives.

Muḥammad ibn Maymūn al-Makkī related: Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us: It was said to Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, “Why do you not marry?” He replied, “If I could divorce my own self, I would have done so.” (1)

Khalaf ibn Tamīm reported: Ibrāhīm once went into the mountains, bought an axe, cut firewood, sold it, and with the proceeds bought nāṭif (2)—a sweet confection—which he set before his companions. They ate, and, joking with them, he said, “It is as though you were eating something held in pledge.”

ʿIṣām ibn Rawwād ibn al-Jarrāḥ narrated from his father: “I spent a night with Ibrāhīm ibn Adham when a man brought him some early fruit. Ibrāhīm looked around for something with which to reward him; he caught sight of my saddle and said, ‘Take that saddle.’ The man took it, and I was delighted that my property was treated as though it were his own.” (3)

ʿAlī ibn Bakkār said: Ibrāhīm was from Banū ʿIjl, of noble lineage. When he reaped grain he would chant:
Take Allah as your Companion,
and leave people to one side. (4)

He wore a fur cloak with no shirt beneath it, and in summer two simple pieces that cost four dirhams—a waist-wrapper and an upper cloth. He fasted whether resident or travelling, did not sleep at night, and spent those hours in contemplation. His companions would collect his wages, but he would not touch them, saying, “Use them to satisfy your cravings.” He also practised naṭr (5),