158 - ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, saying: It was narrated to me from ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Muṭahhar, who said: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Hishām ibn Ḥassān, from Awfā ibn Dalham, who said: Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ziyād had wealth and slaves, so he manumitted some of them, maintained ties with some, and sold some, while retaining one or two slaves to live off their revenue. Then he devoted himself to worship, eating two loaves of bread every day and abandoning sitting with people; he would not sit with anyone. He would pray in congregation, then return to his family; attend Friday prayer, then return to his family; accompany funerals, then return to his family; and visit the sick, then return to his family. Thus he became withdrawn. News of this reached his brothers, so they gathered and came to him—Anas ibn Mālik, al-Ḥasan, and the people—and said: "May Allah have mercy on you! You have ruined yourself; this is not permissible for you." They spoke to him while he remained silent, until when they finished their speech, he said: "I am only humbling myself before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, so that perhaps He will have mercy on me." (1)