15. Al-Hijr

Leave them to eat and enjoy [themselves]. Let them be diverted by [false] hope; for they will come to know.He [Sahl] said:If four [traits] come together in a servant, it will be said to him, �Truly, you will not attain anythingin this affair�: if he likes to eat tasty food, dress in fine clothes, see his command executed and his possessions increase. Of such a one it will be said, �Alas, this is the one who was cut off from God, Exalted is He, by the creation.� It has been related that God revealed to David the following: �Caution and warn your companions about the gratification [lit. consuming, akl] of one�s carnal desires (shahawāt), for verily if hearts are attached to the desires of this world, their intellects (ʿuqūl) will be veiled from Me.� Sahl [then] said:Hope (amal) is the soil of every transgression (maʿṣiya); cupidity (ḥirṣ) is the seed of every transgression, and procrastination (taswīf) is the water of every transgression. Strength (qudra) is the soil of every act of obedience (ṭāʿa), certainty (yaqīn) is the seed of every act of obedience and action (ʿamal) is the water of every act of obedience.He [probably Abū Bakr al-Sijzī] said:Sahl used to intensify his ecstasy (wajd) for seventy days, during which he would not eat anything, while he would order his companions to eat meat once a week so that they would not become too weak for worship. However for him, when he ate he would become weak, and when he became hungry he would gain in strength. He would sweat during the severe cold of winter while wearing only one shirt. If they asked him a question on knowledge he would say, �Don�t ask me questions, for you cannot benefit from my speech at this time.� ʿAbbās b. ʿIṣām came one day while Sahl was saying, �For thirty years I have been speaking to God while people imagine that I�m speaking to them.� His words, Exalted is He: