1158 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Harun ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to me; Sayyar narrated to us; Thabit al-Bunani said:

“Sila ibn Ashyam used to go out to al-jabbana (the cemetery) and engage in worship there. Young men would pass by him, amusing themselves and playing. He would say to them, ‘Tell me about a people who intend to travel: by day they deliberately leave the road, and at night they go to sleep. When will they ever finish their journey?’ He would continue to pass by them and admonish them in this way.

“One day he encountered them again and repeated the same words. A youth among them said, ‘My people, by Allah, he means none but us—we idle away the day in play and sleep through the night.’ The young man then followed Sila and kept accompanying him to al-jabbana, worshipping alongside him, until he died.”