516 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us—my father narrated to me—Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Atish narrated to us—Mundhir narrated from Wahb:

“Once a wandering ascetic and his companion—his constant follower—were travelling when they came upon a lion crouched in the middle of the road, lying in wait for prey. The companion kept whispering to the ascetic, ‘The lion, the lion!’ but the ascetic did not so much as turn his head. They walked straight past the beast; the lion merely rose and stepped aside. After they had gone beyond it, the companion said to his elder, ‘Was I not warning you about the lion?’

The ascetic replied, ‘Did you think I fear anything besides Allah? By Allah, being pierced by a multitude of spears would be dearer to me than that Allah should know I am afraid of anything other than Him.’”}