132 – ʿAli ibn al-Hasan narrated to me, from Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari, who said: I heard Abu Sulayman say:

“It is not permissible for anyone to display asceticism in front of people while worldly desires still reside in his heart. When nothing of this world’s cravings remains inside him, then he may let people see his renunciation, for the ʿabāʾah (coarse wool cloak) is a recognized emblem of the ascetics. Thus, if he has truly renounced the world in his heart and then puts on the cloak, he deserves to wear it; but if he conceals his asceticism beneath two plain white garments in order to divert people’s gaze from him, that is safer for his renunciation.”

He also said: “Doesn’t one of you feel ashamed to wear a rough cloak that costs three dirhams while harboring in his heart a desire worth five?”