'"
Then the fifth damsel retired and the old woman came forward and
kissing the earth before thy father nine times, spoke as follows:
'Thou hast heard, O King, what these all have said on the subject
of piety; and I will follow their example in relating what I have
heard of the famous men of times past. It is said that the Imam
es Shafi[FN#90] divided the night into three portions, the first
for study, the second for sleep and the third for prayer. The
Imam Abou Henifeh[FN#91] was wont also to pass half the night in
prayer. One day a man pointed him out to another, as he passed,
and said, "Yonder man watches the whole night." Quoth Abou
Henifeh, "When I heard this, I was abashed before God, to hear
myself praised for what was not in me; so, after this, I used to
watch the whole night." Er Rebya relates that Es Shafi used to
recite the whole Koran seventy times over during the month of
Ramazan, and that in prayer. Quoth Es Shafi (may God accept of
him!), "For ten years I never ate my fill of barley-bread, for
satiety hardens the heart and deadens the wit and induces sleep
and enfeebles one from standing up (to pray)." It is reported of
Abdallah ben Mohammed es Sekra that he said, "I was once talking
with Omar, and he said to me, 'Never saw I a more God-fearing or
eloquent man than Mohammed ben Idris es Shafi. I went out one day
with El Harith ben Lebib es Suffar, who was a disciple of El
Muzeni[FN#92] and had a fine voice, and he read the saying or the
Most High, 'On that day, they shall not speak nor shall it be
permitted to them to excuse themselves.
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