for food, so I entered it and passed by a washerman who cast a hostile glance at me; I was frightened and fled the town. He pursued me carrying some food and said (1): “Eat, for you have now left the town.”
I asked him, “And with such spiritual standing you still wash clothes in the market?”
He replied, “Do not lift up your head, do not look at anything you do. Be a servant of Allah—even if He sets you to work in the latrine (2)(3), be content with it.”
Then he—may Allah have mercy on him—recited [from the ṭawīl metre]:
(4) “If I were ordered, ‘Die,’ I would answer, ‘I hear and obey,’
And I would greet the summoner of death with welcome and joy.”

He also said: “Once, while travelling, I met a monk in his cell. He asked me, ‘O Muslim, which of your paths (5)(6) is nearest to Allah—exalted is He?’ I replied, ‘Contradicting the lower self.’ He withdrew his head back into his cell.

“Later, when I was in Mecca for the ḥajj, a man greeted me beside the Kaʿbah. I asked, ‘Who are you?’ He replied (7), ‘I am that monk.’ I asked, ‘How did you get here?’ He said, ‘By what you told [me].’ In another account [he said]: ‘I presented Islam to my soul, but it refused (8); so I knew it was the truth, embraced Islam, opposed it, and thus succeeded and prospered.’

“He further said: ‘One day I was on Mount Lebanon (9) when Frankish bandits seized me. They chained me and bound me tightly, and I remained with them in dire straits. When daylight came they drank and fell asleep. As I lay there in bonds, a band of Muslim brigands (10) approached, so I roused the Franks. They took refuge in a nearby cave and escaped the Muslims.

“‘They asked, “How could you do that when your release depended on those men?” I replied, “You fed me, and the right of companionship forbade me to betray you.” They offered me some worldly goods, but I refused, and they set me free (11).’”

Al-Sibt (12) related: “I visited him once in Jerusalem after I had eaten some salted fish. When I sat with him …”