Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad

Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, also known as Abu Ali and as al-Talaqani (725 – 28 February 803)  was a thief who renounced his crimes and became a Muslim ascetic and scholar.

The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004)

 * It is offensive that there should be seen in the outward appearance of man more humility than what is in his heart.
 * p. 31
 * Only the fearful one sees the fearful. It is the mother without her child who likes to see other mourning mothers.
 * p. 31
 * The scholars of the Merciful possess humility and submissiveness and the scholars of the rulers possess pride and arrogance. Whoever considers his soul to be of any worth has no share of submissiveness.
 * p. 31
 * Submit to the Truth; obey it and accept it from whoever says it, this is submissiveness.
 * p. 31
 * God revealed to the mountain, I will speak a prophet upon one of you; so the mountains raised themselves high is pride while Mount Sinai lowered itself humbly. Then God spoke to Moses on this mountain because of its humility.
 * p. 31
 * Satisfaction is better than asceticism in this world because one who is satisfied never wishes for anything beyond his station.
 * p. 31
 * Five of the signs of wretchedness in a man are: Hardness in the hearts, severity in the eyes, paucity of shame, desire for this world, and limitless expectation for worldly gain.
 * p. 31
 * Fudayl preferred seclusion to all the things of the world. World's renunciation for him, is a gift of God, granted to the chosen few. He says when God becomes friendly with a man, He grants him much distress and when He makes him His enemy, He provides him worldly goods in abundance.
 * p. 31
 * About solitude, he says: when night comes I become happy that I am alone, and I become one with God, without separation; when morning comes I get grieved on account of my disgust with the appearance of those who enter and disturb me in my loneliness.
 * p. 32
 * On the Day of Judgement many a rich will suffer imprisonment and the office-holders of the world will have a terrible time, being called to answer for their deeds. So be prepared to answer for your acts on that Day.
 * p. 32
 * Whom God loves, on him He sends sufferings and whom He does not like, on him He bestows comforts.
 * p. 32
 * Just as it is impossible to shed tears in Paradise, so to laugh in the world is also a matter of surprise. For just as Paradise is not a place for tears, similarly the world is no place for laughter.
 * p. 32
 * The Lord says: "When My slave remembers Me, I remember him and when He forgets Me I forget him."
 * p. 32
 * For thirty years I have never smiled.
 * p. 32
 * I wish to fall ill that all my time may pass in seclusion with the Lord and be saved appearing in mass prayers.
 * p. 32