70 - The
Hermits
A
certain hermit worshipped on a certain mountain. There lived a pair of
pigeon also. The hermit made two parts of his daily food, eating one part
himself and the other one gave to the pigeons. He also prayed for them
that they could have children too. After a while the pigeons went
away from there and the hermit died.
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Now it
is told that on a certain other mountain there lived a shepherd, a very
holy man. He had a flocks of sheep and he made his living by their milk
and wool. The mountain over which he lived had lots of trees and pastures
including wild animals. Once he fell sick so he took himself to a cavern, and
his flocks used to go out in the morning and come back to the cave in the
night.
One
day Allaah sent him His Angel in the form of a beautiful woman. When the
shepherd saw a beautiful woman sitting in front of him, he asked her -
"What made you come here? I don't need you." She said -
"Don't you see my beauty and loveliness? Who is the man who does not
need the woman, and who is the woman who does not need the man? I wish to
live with you because you need the services of a woman. You will be all
right and healthy."
Shepherd said - "Go out from here. I don't need you because you seduce the
mankind." She again said - "Look at me, and take me in your service as
other wise people have done before you." The shepherd said - "I know how
much foulness you hide under your beauty." Then he threw his goat's hair
cloak on his head so that he cannot see her face and
started reciting name of Allaah. When the Angel saw his submission to
Allaah, he went out of the cave and ascended to Heaven.
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Now by
the Hermit's hill there lived a pious man who had no other place to live,
till one night he had a dream. A voice said to him - "In such and such
a place near to you, lives a devotee. Go to him and obey him." So
when he woke up in the morning, he went to look for him. It was very hot,
so he sat down under a tree which was beside a running water stream. and
he saw beasts and birds coming there to drink but as they saw the devotee
sitting there, they got afraid of him and fled from there. So he said to
himself, "I should not rest here, because in this way I will be
hurting these beasts." So he blamed himself that I did not allow them
to take water there. Thinking thus he wept.
Then
he came to the place of the Shepherd and saluted him. The shepherd wept
and embraced him saying - "How could you come here because nobody has
ever come here?" The other devotee said - "I saw in sleep one
man who described me your living place and asked me to come here to salute
you." The Shepherd welcomed him rejoicing his company and both lived
on that mountain worshipping Allaah.
And
this is the end of this story.
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