I asked her of the dead，and she answered，'This is the funeral of a man who passed by us yesterday whilst my son was standing at prayer and after his prayers he recited a verse from the Book of Allah Almighty when the man's gall bladder burst and he fell dead.'Therewith the fourth damsel retired and the fifth came forward and said，'I here will also repeat what occurreth to me regarding the acts of devotees in olden time.Maslamah bin Dinar used to say，'By ****** sound the secret thoughts，sins great and small are covered'；and，'when the servant of Allah is resolved to leave sinning，victory cometh to him.'Also quoth he，'Every worldly good which doth not draw one nearer to Allah is a calamity，for a little of this world distracteth from a mickle of the world to come and a mickle of the present maketh thee forget the whole of the future.'It was asked of Abu Hazim，[359] 'Who is the most prosperous of men？'；and he answered，'Whoso spendeth his life in submission to Allah.'The other enquired，'And who is the most foolish of mankind？''Whoso selleth his future for the worldly goods of others，'replied Abu Hazim.It is reported of Moses[360] （on whom be peace！） that when he came to the waters of Midian he exclaimed，'O Lord，verily I stand in need of the good which thou shalt send down to me.'[361] And he asked of his Lord and not of his folk.There came two damsels and he drew water for them both and allowed not the shepherds to draw first.
When the twain returned，they informed their father Shu'ayb （on whom be peace！） who said，'Haply，he is hungry，'adding to one of them，'Go back to him and bid him hither.'Now when she came to Moses，she veiled her face and said，'My father biddeth thee to him that he may pay thee thy wage for having drawn water for us.'
Moses was averse to this and was not willing to follow her.Now she was a woman large in the back parts，and the wind blowing upon her garment[362] covered the hinder cheeks to Moses；which when Moses saw，he lowered his eyes and said to her，'Get thee behind while I walk in front.'So she followed him till he entered the house of Shu'ayb where supper was ready.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Eighty-third Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Wazir Dandan continued to Zau al-Makan，'Now，quoth the fifth damsel to thy sire，'When Moses （on whom be peace！） entered the home of Shu'ayb where supper was ready，Shu'ayb said to him，'O Moses，I desire to pay thee thy wage for having drawn water for these two.'But Moses answered，'I am of a household which selleth nothing of the fashion of the next world[363] for what is on earth of gold and silver.'Then quoth Shu'ayb，'O youth！
nevertheless thou art my guest，and it is my wont and that of my forbears to honour the guest by setting food before him.'So Moses sat down and ate.Then Shu'ayb hired Moses for eight pilgrimages，that is to say，eight years，and made his wage marriage with one of his two daughters，and Moses'service to him was to stand for her dowry.As saith the Holy Writ of him，'Verily I will give thee one of these my two daughters in marriage，on condition that thou serve me for hire eight pilgrimages： and if thou fulfil ten years，it is in thine own breast；for I seek not to impose a hardship on thee.'[364] A certain man once said to one of his friends whom he had not met for many days，'Thou hast made me desolate，for that I have not seen thee this long while.'Quoth the other，'I have been distracted from thee by Ibn Shihab： dost thou know him？'Quoth his friend，'Yes，he hath been my neighbour these thirty years，but I have never spoken to him.'He replied，'Verily thou forgettest Allah in forgetting--thy neighbour！If thou lovedst Allah thou wouldst love thy neighbour.Knowest thou not that a neighbour hath a claim upon his neighbour，[365] even as the right of kith and kin？'Said Huzayfah，'We entered Meccah with Ibrahim bin Adham，and Shakik al-Balkhi was also ****** a pilgrimage that year.Now we met whilst circumambulating the Ka'abah and Ibrahim said to Shakik，'What is your fashion in your country？'Replied Shakik，'When we are blest with our daily bread we eat，and when we hunger we take patience.''This wise，'said Ibrahim，'do the dogs of Balkh；but we，when blest with plenty，do honour to Allah and when an hungered we thank Him.'And Shakik seated himself before Ibrahim and said to him，'Thou art my master.'Also said Mohammed bin Imran，'A man once asked of Hatim the Deaf[366] 'What maketh thee to trust in Allah？''Two things，'answered he，'I know that none save myself shall eat my daily bread，so my heart is at rest as to that；and I know that I
was not created without the knowledge of Allah，and am abashed before Him.'Then the fifth damsel retired and the ancient dame came forward and，kissing the ground before thy father nine times，said，'Thou hast heard，O King，what these all have spoken on the subject of piety；and I will follow their example in relating what hath reached me of the famous men of past times.
It is said that the Imam al-Shafi'i departed the night into three portions，the first for study，the second for sleep and the third for prayer.The Imam Abu Hanifah[367] was wont also to pass half the night in prayer.One day a man pointed him out to another，as he walked by and remarked，'Yonder man watcheth the whole night.'When he heard this Abu Hanifah said，'I was abashed before Allah to hear myself praised for what was not in me'；so after this he used to watch the whole night.And one of the Sages hath said，'Who seeketh for pearl in the Deep dives deep；Who on high would hie robs his night of sleep.'
