64 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn asserted: Saʿīd ibn Muslim al-Ḥanafī related to me, and my father Muslim ibn Saʿīd related to me, saying:

“We were seated in one of the gatherings of Banū Ḥanīfa when a Bedouin passed by, looking as though care itself weighed on him. He offered his greeting and walked on, but then he turned back and said:

‘People of the Arabs, I am weary of the nights and days as they repeat and revolve over me. Is there anything that can drive away the boredom this brings, or lighten at least some of what I feel?’

He went off only a little way, then returned and said:

‘Ah, for hearts kept pure of sin! Ah, for limbs that hasten to obey the Most Merciful! Such people never grow tired of the world, for they use it as a means of obedience to their Lord; nor do they dread death when it comes, for they hope for the blessing of meeting their Master. In both circumstances they are in a good state: if they arrive at the Hereafter, they arrive with the devotion they previously sent ahead; and if their lives are prolonged, they keep laying in provisions for the day of return.’”

The narrator continued, “Never have I heard words that lodge more deeply in the heart. Whenever I recall them, this world and all it contains feel trivial to me.” ⦗42⦘

Sulaymān ibn Yazīd al-ʿAdawī said:

Day and night—the ever-renewed pair—drive every new thing toward decay;
how many a novelty have they destroyed and scattered!

How much freshness, delight, and lengthy life have they worn away,
consuming and exhausting it all.

How many pleasures and luxuries have they clouded;
how many companions have they bereaved, parting friend from friend.

How often have they brought tears after joy—
a burning grief whose heat will never cool.

How many a new thing have they reduced to ruin,
and how many a youth have they rendered feeble.

How many a proud, defiant king of vast dominion
have the two ages wrestled with until his power grew dull.

How many a flourishing settlement now holds not a single soul;
the ruin of time has overtaken the one who raised it high.

How many communities have the two ages torn apart,
and how many a wondrous affair have they hidden and displayed.

How many a pampered, dignified man have they broken,
driving him to death’s pool and forcing him to drink.

He ends the evening humbled, his cheek in the dust,
parted from a kingdom and glory once thought secure.

How many a person at ease have they startled with sudden disaster,
drawing it near while banishing comfort afar.

They return again and again, leaving orphans as a lesson,
but only the rightly guided and supported take heed.

Every person will one day be repaid for his striving,
and each will be given in full the provision he laid up.