147 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: Muhammad ibn al-Husayn told me; he said: Ishaq ibn Mansur al-Saluli related to us; he said: Umm Saʿid bint ʿAlqama al-Nakhaʿi—whose mother was from the Tayy—reported:

“There was only a low wall between our house and that of Dawud al-Taʾi. Throughout most of the night I could hear him moving about; he never became still. More than once, in the depths of the night, I heard him say:

‘O Allah, concern for You has silenced every other worry; it has forged a pact between me and wakefulness. My yearning to behold You is more ardent than I am, and it has kept me from every pleasure. Thus I am in Your prison, O Most Generous, a man who is sought.’

“Sometimes, just before dawn, he would chant portions of the Qur’an, and I felt as though all the delights of this world had been gathered into his chanting. She said: He would pace alone around the courtyard, as though he did not expect to see the morning in it.”