527 – Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Ḥanẓalī narrated to me; Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd al-Muʾmin al-Dimashqī related, saying: “Aḥmad ibn ʿĀṣim al-Anṭākī wrote to me, and in his letter he said:

‘We have awoken in a bewildering age whose waves toss us about under the dominance of passion—scholars and common folk alike. The scholar among us is captivated by the world despite the knowledge he claims, while the ignorant among us is enamoured of it, filled with the temptation set before him by his scholar. He who owns little is not content, and he who owns much is never satisfied. Every heart has been preoccupied by Satan with fear of poverty. So may Allah grant refuge to us and to you from accepting the promise of Iblīs and abandoning the promise of the Lord of all worlds.

My brother, keep company only with a believer who admonishes you through his actions and the truthfulness of his words, or with a believing, God-fearing man. Whenever you befriend anyone other than these, they will pass on to you deficiency in your religion and disrepute in your conduct.

Beware of greed and craving, for they strip you of contentment and serenity. Beware of inclining toward your own whim, for it will block you from the truth. Beware of displaying fear of Allah ⦗227⦘ while your heart is corrupt. Beware of harbouring something which, if made public, would disgrace you, and if kept hidden, would destroy you.

And peace.’"