“O you who delight in the sight of your brethren—easy now! Have you grown secure against Satan’s snares?
Hearts have been emptied of the Hereafter and its remembrance, and people have busied themselves with craving and loss.
The gatherings you attend, and all their talk, revolve around tearing away what is veiled and the death of hearts. (1)

Al-Halabī said: I then said to Sarī, “That was Bishr’s admonition to you; now admonish me yourself.”
He answered, “Commit yourself to obscurity.”
I replied, “That is exactly what I desire.”
He thereupon recited:

O you who claim that you seek obscurity—if you speak the truth, then equip yourself with certain traits:
Abandon gatherings and discussion, my brother, and let your outings be no more than a fleeting shadow for prayer.
Rather, live among them as though you were dead, from whom even close kin expect no companionship.

Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Qaṣrī said: I said to al-Halabī, “This is Sarī’s admonition to you; now admonish me yourself.”
He said, “My brother, the deeds most beloved to Allah are those that ascend to Him from a heart that has renounced the world; therefore renounce the world and Allah will love you.”
Then he recited:

You dwell in a land of dispersal—so prepare for your dispersal.
Make this world like a single day on which you fast from its cravings,
And let the breaking of that fast be the day of your death.

Ibn Khurrzād said: I then said to ʿAlī, “This was al-Halabī’s admonition to you; now admonish me.”
He replied, “Guard your time, give yourself freely to Allah—exalted is He—and strip the value of things from your heart; your inner secret will thereby become pure and your remembrance refined.”
He then recited:

Your life is but breaths that are numbered; each time a breath departs, a part of you is gone.
You rise diminished and you retire diminished, yet you possess no insight that makes you feel the loss.
What gives you life is killing you at every moment, and a driver urges you on only to increase the mockery of you.

Abū Muḥammad said: I said to Aḥmad, “This was ʿAlī’s admonition to you; now admonish me.”
He answered, “My brother, hold fast to obedience; beware of leaving the gate of contentment. Put your dwelling in order, do not prefer your own desire, and never sell your Hereafter for your worldly life. Occupy yourself with what concerns you by abandoning what does not concern you.”
Then he recited:

I have repented of what I did with deepest remorse, and whoever follows the soul’s cravings will surely regret it.
So fear Allah that you may be secure after your death; you will meet a just Lord who never wrongs. (2)
No warning reaches the one deluded by his worldly life; he will regret it when his sandal slips—so know it.