Amir al-mu'minīn's nocturnal reflections on asceticism

O Nawf! Blessed be those who abstain from this world and are eager for the next world. They are the people who regard this earth as a floor; its dust as their bed-cloth; and its water as their perfume; they recite the Qur’ān in low tones and supplicate in high tones and then they are cut off from the world like ‘Īsā (Jesus).

O Nawf! The prophet Dāwūd (David), peace be upon him, rose up at a similar hour one night and said, “This is the hour when whatever a person prays for is granted to him unless he is a tax-collector, an intelligence man, a police officer, a lute player or a drummer.”