312 – Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad—who was one of the finest men—narrated to us; he said: Abū al-Mughīra al-Makhzūmī narrated to us; he said: Saʿīd ibn Salama narrated to us; he said: Ibn Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, a man of virtue who had settled in Mecca—distinct from Ibn Ḥumayd al-Baṣrī—told me that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—may Allah be pleased with him—used to say in his supplication:

“O Allah, You have made this world a trial and a retribution; so appoint my share of all that it contains, and my portion of its apportionment ⦗147⦘, and my honour drawn from its authority, to consist in turning away from it and in deeds that earn Your good pleasure with me.”

One of the sage-poets said:
I see the maladies of the world come by night and by day,
Falling on us like spear-points fixed to shafts.
Deluded, I plunge into the world as though it were
A mirage of hopes, diversions, and desires.
Each day the strokes that bring death single me out;
No one but I seems burdened with their care.
Strange indeed that I must die, while I am bent
Over this world, building its edifices high.
I have clung to it, beguiled by its idle play;
Whenever it withdrew from here, I cried, “It is still here!”
I am but a drowning man whose hands clutch
At whatever comes near, hungry for life.
What am I if Allah does not cloak me in His cover?
What am I—if Allah shows no mercy—what am I?

He also said:
I marvel at the world and at the love we bear it,
While it never ceases to merit our disdain.
I amuse myself, though the hours of the day hurry past,
Gently contriving my binding and my undoing.

And he said:
The world has ambitions—beware its ambitions;
Its pastures, though lush, are poisoned and bleak.
Leave the world to the one content to graze within it;
He lives on that grazing the life of a beast.
The turns of time have ever continued their course—
Some disquieting, some disabling, some holding one fast.
The fruit of patience is safety and ease,
And patience is born only of firm resolve.