1106 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to me; ʿAbd al-Ṣamad narrated to us; Abu ʿAqil narrated to us; Yazid—meaning Ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir—narrated to us:

A man came to Tamim al-Dari and asked, “How do you pray at night?” Tamim became extremely upset and replied, “By Allah, a single rakʿah (one unit of prayer) that I perform in the depth of the night, hidden from people, is dearer to me than praying the whole night and then telling people about it.”

The questioner grew angry and said, “O Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah knows best about you! If we ask you, you rebuke us, and if we leave you be, you keep your distance from us!”

Tamim then turned to the man and said, “Tell me: if you were a strong believer while I were a weak one, would you use your strength against me and tear me apart? And if you were a weak believer while I were a strong one, would I then use my strength against you and tear you apart? Rather, take from yourself for the sake of your religion, and from your religion for the sake of yourself, until you arrive at a form of worship with which you are content.”