Then the third damsel came forward，after the second had with drawn，and said，'Of a truth，the chapter of piety is exceeding wide；but I will mention what occurreth to me thereof，concerning the pious of old.Quoth a certain holy man，'I congratulate myself in death，though I am not assured of rest therein，save that I know death interveneth between a man and his works；so I hope for the doubling of good works and the docking off of ill works.'And Ita'a al Salami，when he had made an end of an exhortation，was wont to tremble and grieve and weep sore；and as they asked him why he did this he answered，'I desire to enter upon a grave matter，and it is the standing up before Almighty Allah to do in accordance with my exhortation.'In similar guise Zayn al-Abidin，[345] son of Al-Husayn，was wont to tremble when he rose to pray.Being asked the cause of this，he replied，'Know ye not before whom I stand and whom I address？'It is said that there lived near Sufyan al-Thauri[346] a blind man who，when the month of Ramazan came，went out with the folk to pray，[347] but remained silent and hung back.Said Sufyan，'On the Day of Resurrection he shall come with the people of the Koran and they will be distinguished by increase of honour from their fellows.'Quoth Sufyan，'Were the soul established in the heart as befitteth，it would fly away for joy and pining for Paradise，and for grief and fear of hell-fire.'It is related also of Sufyan Al-Thauri that he said，'To look upon the face of a tyrant is a sin.'Then the third damsel retired and came for ward the fourth，who said，'Here am I to treat of sundry traditions of pious men which suggest themselves to me.It is related that Bishr Barefoot[348] said，'I once heard Khalid say，'Beware of secret polytheism.'I asked，'What may secret polytheism be？'；and he answered，'When one of you in praying prolong his inclinations and prostrations till a cause of impurity[349] come upon him.'And one of the sages said，'Doing works of weal expiateth what is ill.'Quoth Ibrahim，[350] 'I supplicated Bishr Barefoot to acquaint me with some theological mysteries；but he said，'O my son，this knowledge it behoveth us not to teach to every one；of every hundred five，even as the legal alms upon money.'Said Ibrahim，'I thought his reply excellent and approved of it and while I was praying behold，Bishr was also praying： so I stood behind him[351] making the prayer bow till the Mu'ezzin called his call.Then rose a man of tattered appearance and said，O folk，beware of a truth which bringeth unweal，for there is no harm in a lie bringing weal，[352] and in time of need no choice we heed： speech booteth not in the absence of good qualities even as silence hurteth not in the presence of good.Presently I saw Bishr drop a danik，[353] so I picked it up and exchanged it for a dirham which I gave him.Quoth he，'I will not take it.'
Quoth I，'It is perfectly lawful change'；but he rejoined 'I cannot take in exchange the riches of the present world for those of the future world.'It is related also that Bishr Barefoot's sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal'[354]--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Eighty-second Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Wazir Dandan continued to bespeak Zau al-Makan on this wise，'And quoth the maiden to thy father，'Bishr Barefoot's sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal and said to him，'O Imam of the Faith，we are a family that spin thread by night and work for our living by day；and oftentimes the cressets of the watch of Baghdad pass by and we on the roof spinning by their light.Is this forbidden to us？'Asked Ahmad：'Who are thou？''I am the sister of Bishr Barefoot，'answered she.Rejoined the Iman，'O household of Bishr，I shall never cease to drink full draughts of piety from your hearts.'Quoth one of the sages，'When Allah willeth well to His servant He openeth upon him the gate of action.'Malik bin Dinar，[355] when he passed through the bazar and saw aught he desired，was wont to say，'O soul，take patience，for I will not accord to thee what thou desirest.'He said also （Allah accept him！），'The salvation of the soul lies in resistance to it and its damnation in submission to it.'Quoth Mansur bin Ammar，[356] 'I made a pilgrimage and was faring Meccahwards by way of Cufa，and the night was overcast，when I heard a voice crying out from the deeps of the darkness saying，'O Allah，I swear by Thy Greatness and Thy Glory，I meant not through my disobedience to transgress against Thee；for indeed I am not ignorant of Thee；but my fault is one Thou didst foreordain to me from eternity without beginning；[357] so do Thou pardon my transgression，for indeed I disobeyed Thee of my ignorance！'When he had made an end of his prayer he recited aloud the verse，'O true believers，save your souls and those of your families from the fire whose fuel is men and stones.'[358] Then I heard a fall，but not knowing what it was I passed on.When the morning morrowed，as we went our way，behold，we fell in with a funeral train，followed by an old woman whose strength had left her.
