have been seeking forgiveness for that praise for thirty years. Someone asked, “And how is that?” He replied, “I had a shop stocked with goods. The market caught fire, and a man met me and said, ‘Good news—your shop has been spared.’ I said, ‘Praise be to Allah,’ then reflected and realized that even this was a sin. (1)

It is also narrated that Sarī saw a maidservant drop a vessel that shattered. He took a vessel from his own shop and gave it to her. Maʿrūf al-Karkhī witnessed this and prayed for him, saying, ‘May Allah make the world distasteful to you.’ Sarī said, ‘What I now experience is through the blessings of Maʿrūf.’ (2)

Junayd said, “I heard Sarī say: For thirty years I have longed to dip a carrot into date molasses and eat it, yet it has never proved possible for me.” (3)

I also heard him say, “I wish I could eat a meal for which I would owe no reckoning to Allah and be under no obligation to any creature, but I find no way to do so.” (4)

I entered upon Sarī while he was in the throes of death and said, “Advise me.” He replied, “Do not keep company with the wicked, and do not let even the company of the righteous distract you from Allah.” (5)

Al-Farrukhanī said, “I heard Junayd say: I never saw anyone more devoted to Allah than Sarī. Ninety-eight years passed over him, and he was never seen lying down except in the illness of death.” (6)

Junayd also said, “I heard him remark: I look at my nose every day for fear that …”