• Whoever grows arrogant, Allah will abase him, and whoever disobeys Allah has obeyed Satan (1).

• The bearer of the Quran should be distinguished by his night when people are asleep, by his day when people are eating, by his sorrow when people rejoice, by his tears when people laugh, by his silence when people plunge into idle talk, and by his humility when people swagger. The bearer of the Quran ought to be weeping, grieving, wise, forbearing, and dignified; he should never be rude, heedless, clamorous, loud-voiced, or hard-hearted (2).

• Whoever raises himself in self-importance, Allah will bring him low, and whoever lowers himself in humility, Allah will raise him (3).

• There is a prompting from the angel and a prompting from Satan. The angel’s prompting is a promise of good and a confirmation of truth; when you feel that, praise Allah. Satan’s prompting is a promise of evil and a denial of truth; when you feel that, seek refuge with Allah (4).

• People have mastered fine speech: the one whose deeds match his words has attained his share, while the one whose deeds contradict his words is merely reproaching himself (5).

• I loathe to see a man idle, involved in neither the work of this world nor the work of the Hereafter (6).