It is also related from Shaqiq that he said, “I used to be a poet. Then Allah granted me repentance; I disposed of 300,000 dirhams, wore wool for twenty years, yet never realized that I was showing off until I met ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād, who said:

‘The point is not in eating barley or wearing wool. What matters is that you recognise Allah with your heart, associate nothing with Him, are pleased with Allah, and place greater trust in what is in Allah’s hand than in what is in the hands of people.’(1)

He also said, ‘If someone were to live for 200 years and not know these four matters, he would not be saved: knowledge of Allah; knowledge of the self; knowledge of Allah’s commands and prohibitions;(2) and knowledge of the enemy of Allah and the enemy of the soul.’(3)

Despite his devotion and asceticism, it is likewise reported that Shaqiq was counted among the foremost ghāzīs, the leaders of those who fought in Allah’s cause.

Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān narrated from Ḥātim al-Aṣamm, who said:

‘We were with Shaqiq, drawn up in ranks against the Turkish enemy on a day when I saw nothing but heads flying,(4) swords hacking, and spears snapping. He said to me, “How do you feel—like the night of your wedding?” I replied, “By Allah, no.” He said, “As for me, I feel exactly that way.”

‘He then lay down between the two lines of battle, using his shield as a pillow,(5) and slept so soundly that he snored. A Turk seized me and stretched me out to slaughter me; while he was reaching into his boot for his knife, a stray arrow came and slit his throat.(6)’