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and guard thyself from loving them? asked the other. Can I look
to enter the sea, without wetting my clothes? answered Abou
Henifeh. Another of Es Shafi s sayings is as follows:
O soul, if thou be fain to do as I shall say, Thou shalt be free
from need and great of grace for aye.
Put far away from thee ambitions and desires, For lo, how oft a
wish to death hath led the way!
Among the sayings of Sufyan eth Thauri, with which he admonished
Ali ben el Hassan es Selemi was the following, Look that thou
practice sincerity and beware of falsehood and treachery and
hypocrisy and presumption for God annuls good works with either
of these things. Borrow not but of Him who is merciful to His
debtors and let thy comrade be one who will cause thee to abstain
from the world. Let the thought of death be ever present with
thee and be constant in asking pardon of God and beseeching of
Him peace for what remains of thy life. Give loyal counsel to
every true-believer, when he asks thee concerning the things of
his faith, and beware of betraying a believer, for he who betrays
a believer betrays God and His apostle. Avoid dissension and
litigation and leave that which awakens doubt in thee, betaking;,
thyself rather to those things that will not disquiet thee; so
shalt thou be at peace. Enjoin that which is just and forbid that
which is evil, so shalt thou be beloved of God. Make fair thine
inner man, and God shall make fair thine outer man. Accept the
excuse of him who excuses himself to thee and hate none of the
true-believers. Draw near unto those that reject thee and forgive
those that oppress thee; so shalt thou be the companion of the
prophets. Commit thine affair to God, both in public and in
private, and fear Him with the fear of one who knows that he must
die and be raised again to stand before the Almighty, remembering
that thou art destined for one of two dwellings, either Paradise
the glorious or the flaming fire. Having spoken thus, the old
woman sat down beside the damsels.
When the late King thy father heard their discourse, he knew that
they were the most accomplished of the people of their time and
seeing their beauty and grace and the greatness of their
learning, he showed them all favour. Moreover, he turned to the
old woman and entreated her with honour, setting apart for her
and her damsels the palace that had been the lodging of the
princess Abrizeh, to which he let carry all that they needed of
the best. Here they abode ten days, and whenever the King visited
them, he found the old woman absorbed in prayer, watching by
night and fasting by day; wherefore love of her took hold upon
his heart and he said to me, O Vizier, verily this old woman is
a pious soul, and reverence for her is strong in my heart. On
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the eleventh day, the King visited her, that he might pay her the
price of the five damsels; but she said to him, O King, know
that the price of these passes the competence of men, for I seek
for them neither gold nor silver nor jewels, be it little or
much. The King wondered at this and said, O my lady, what is
their price? I will not sell them to thee, replied she, save
on condition that thou fast a whole month, watching by night and
fasting by day for the love of God the Most High: but if thou
wilt do this, they are thine, to use as thou pleasest. The King
wondered at the perfectness of her piety and devotion and
abnegation and she was magnified in his eyes, and he said, May
God make this pious old woman to profit us! So he agreed to her
proposal, and she said to him, I will help thee with my
prayers. Then she called for a gugglet of water and muttered
over it words in an unknown language and abode awhile, speaking
over it things that we understood not. Then she covered it with a
cloth and sealing it up, gave it to the King, saying, When thou
has fasted ten days, break thy fast on the eleventh night with
what is in this cup, for it will root out the love of the world
from thy heart and fill it with light and faith. As for me, I
purpose to go out to-morrow to visit my brethren of the invisible
world, for I yearn after them, and I will return to thee when the
ten days are past. So the King took the gugglet and setting it
apart in a closet of his palace, locked the door and put the key
in his pocket. Next day, the old woman departed and the King
entered upon his fast. When he had accomplished the first ten
days thereof, he opened the gugglet and drank what was therein
and found it cordial to his stomach. Within the next ten days,
the old woman returned, bringing sweetmeats wrapped in a green
leaf, like no leaf of a tree. She went in to the King and saluted
him; and when he saw her he rose to meet her, saying, Welcome, O
pious lady! O King, said she, the spirits salute thee, for I
told them of thee, and they rejoiced in thee and have sent thee
this cake, which is of the sweetmeats of the other world. Do thou
break thy fast on it at the end of the day. The King rejoiced
greatly at this and exclaimed, Praised be God who hath given me
brethren of the invisible world! And he thanked the old woman
and kissed her hands and entreated her and the damsels with
exceeding honour. Then he fasted till twenty days were past, at
the end of which time the old woman came to him and said, Know,
O King, that I told the spirits of the love that is between thee
and me and how I had left the damsels with thee, and they were
glad that the damsels should belong to a King like thee; for they
were wont, when they saw them, to be strenuous in offering up
effectual prayer on their behalf. So I would fain carry them to
the spirits, that they may benefit by their favours, and they
shall surely not return to thee without some treasure of the
treasures of the earth, that thou, after the completion of thy
fast, mayst occupy thyself with their dress and help thyself to
the fulfilment of thy wishes with that which they shall bring
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thee. The King thanked her and said, But that I fear to cross
thee, I would not accept the treasure or aught else: but when
wilt thou set out with them? On the seven-and-twentieth night,
replied she; and I will bring them back to thee at the end of
the month, by which time thou wilt have accomplished thy fast and
they will have had their courses and be free from impurity. Then
they shall become thine and be at thy disposal. By Allah, each
one of them is worth many times thy kingdom! I know it, O pious
lady, replied the King. Then said the old woman, If there be
any one in thy palace who is dear to thee, thou wouldst do well
to send her with me, that she may find solace and seek a blessing
of the spirits. Quoth the King, I have a Greek slave called
Sufiyeh, by whom God hath vouchsafed me two children, a son and a
daughter: but they were lost years ago. Take her with thee, that
she may get the spirits blessing: it may be they will pray God
for her, that her children may be restored to her. It is well,
replied the old woman; for indeed this was what she most desired.
The King gave not over fasting till the seven-and-twentieth
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