It was said that a distraught man from whom a thousand dinars had been stolen came to Maʿrūf, begging him to pray. Maʿrūf replied, “For what should I supplicate? Have You not withheld this world from Your prophets and Your devoted friends as well? Return it to him!”

It is related that he once chanted before dawn:
“What harm would my sins cause, were You to set me free—
Show me mercy, for grey hairs have already overtaken me.” (1)

From him also: “Whoever curses his leader will be deprived of that leader’s justice.” (2)

Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī said, “I once sat with Maʿrūf, and he may have repeated the cry ‘Wā ghawthāh, O Allah!’ ten thousand times. Then he recited, ‘When you appealed to your Lord for help, He answered you…’ (3) [Al-Anfāl: 9].”

Ibn Shīrawayh reported: “I said to Maʿrūf, ‘I have heard that you walk on water.’ He replied, ‘No such thing has occurred; but whenever I mean to cross, the two banks of the river are brought together for me, so I simply step across.’” (4)

Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Masrūq narrated: “Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī told us, ‘I was with Maʿrūf; later I returned and noticed a mark on his face. When he was asked about it he said to the questioner, “Ask about what concerns you—may Allah grant you well-being.” The man adjured him, so Maʿrūf’s face changed color and he said, “Last night I prayed, then went and circumambulated the House. I came to drink from Zamzam, slipped, and this is what struck my face.”’” (5)

Ibn Masrūq also narrated: “Yaʿqūb—the nephew of Maʿrūf—told us that Maʿrūf once prayed for rain….”