356 - Al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us, from Aḥmad, who said: I heard Abū Sulaymān say: There was a young man in Iraq who devoted himself to worship. He set out with a companion of his to Mecca. Whenever they dismounted, he would pray, and if they ate, he would be fasting. His companion bore with him going and coming. When he was about to part ways with him, he said to him: "O my brother, tell me, what is it that drives you to do what I have seen?" He said: "I saw in a dream a palace among the palaces of Paradise. There was a brick of gold and a brick of silver, and the building was not yet complete. Then there was a balcony of chrysolite and a balcony of ruby, and between them was a houri of the wide-eyed houris, letting her hair down. She wore a garment of silver that swayed with her whenever she swayed. She said: 'O Shahlawayh, strive towards God, Mighty and Majestic, in seeking me, for by God, I have striven in seeking you.' So this striving that you see is in pursuit of her." Abū Sulaymān said: "This is in pursuit of a houri, so what of one who desires that which is greater than her?"
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