Abu Said spent seven years in the desert, undergoing grueling hardships of asceticism. His food was the stems and roots of thorny bushes, and his drink was collected drops of dew. When he achieved enlightenment, he abandoned such practices.
One day in the city of Mashhad he was resting, leaning back on his pillows. The student cut slices of melon, dipped them in powdered sugar and served them to him. Someone who had heard about the master’s severe asceticism and did not believe in it asked him:
- O mentor, what is preferable: sugar melon or the roots that you ate in the desert?
“Everything has its time,” answered the master. - If, while eating roots, you are in the presence of God, then the roots become sweeter than melon. If you remain outside of God, then even a melon covered in sugar will turn out to be more bitter than the roots!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru