I was with my master Abū ʿAbdillāh (peace be upon him) when a man complained to him of hardship. He said: “Be patient, for God (Majestic is His glory) will surely grant you relief.” Then he was silent for a while, and then he turned to the man and said: “Tell me about the prison of Kūfa—what is it like?” The man replied: “God keep you in goodness—it is cramped, foul-smelling, and its inmates are in the worst of conditions.” He (peace be upon him) said: “You are only (nothing else) in a prison, and you expect it to be spacious and comfortable? Do you not know that this world is the prison of the believer?”