guarding yourself: you have consumed usury, you met a woman and did not lower your gaze, and you slung your sword across your shoulder… until he went on to say:
‘This very gathering of mine is something we must beware of; it is a temptation for the one who is followed and a humiliation for the follower.’ (1)

It is related that a man once brought ten dinars to Maʿrūf. A beggar happened to pass by, so he handed the whole amount to him.

He would weep and then say, ‘O self, how long will you keep on weeping? Purify your intention and you will be saved.’

He was asked, ‘How do you fast?’
He evaded the questioner, saying, ‘The fasting of our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was such-and-such, and the fasting of David was such-and-such.’ When the man persisted, he replied, ‘I begin every day of my life fasting; if anyone invites me, I eat without announcing that I am fasting.’ (2)

Someone was trimming Maʿrūf’s moustache while Maʿrūf never paused his remembrance of Allah. The barber asked, ‘How shall I cut?’ He answered, ‘You do your work, and I am doing mine.’ (3)

It is said that a man backbit another person in Maʿrūf’s presence, so he remarked, ‘Remember the cotton that will be placed over your eyes (in the shroud).’

From him also: ‘How many are the righteous, and how few the truthful!’ (4)

And he said: ‘Whoever stubbornly confronts Allah, He will bring him down; whoever contends with Him, He will crush him; whoever plots against Him, He will outwit him; whoever relies on Him, He will protect him; and whoever humbles himself before Him, He will raise him. A servant’s talking about what does not concern him is a sign that Allah has forsaken him.’ (5)