174 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn narrated to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muʿāwiya al-Azraq narrated to me, saying: A Sheikh of ours narrated to us, saying: Jonah and Gabriel, peace be upon them both, met, and Jonah said: "O Gabriel, direct me to the most devoted worshipper among the people of the earth." He said: So he brought him to a man whose hands and feet had been severed by leprosy, while he was saying: "You granted me enjoyment of them as You willed, and You stripped me of them as You willed, and You have left me with long hope in You, O All-Benign, O Ever-Bountiful." Jonah said: "O Gabriel, I only asked you to show him to me as one who fasts constantly and stands long in prayer."
Gabriel said: "Indeed, this man, before the affliction, was devoutly obedient to Allah just like this, and I have been commanded to strip him of his sight." He said: So he pointed to his eyes, and they ran out, whereupon the man said: "You granted me enjoyment of them as You willed, and You stripped me of them as You willed, and You have left me with long hope in You, O All-Benign, O Ever-Bountiful." Gabriel said: "Come, make supplication to Allah and we will supplicate with you, so that Allah returns to you your hands, your feet, and your sight, and you may return to the worship you were engaged in." He said: "I do not wish for that." Gabriel asked: "And why?" He said: "Since His love lies in this, His love is more beloved to me than that." Jonah said: "O Gabriel, by Allah, I have never seen anyone more devoted in worship than this man." Gabriel said: "O Jonah, this is a path by which one cannot reach Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, through anything superior to it."
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