The soul demands me (to fallow) passions.

The soul demands me (to fallow) passions. Satan demands me to follow him. The two keepers demand me to act sincerely. The Angel of Death demands my soul, and the grave demands my body. Hence I am indebted (to them) for these qualities.[^4]” The Imam carefully considered the dimensions of the world and concluded that they were surrounded by these eight demanders, hence he decided to renounce the world and its vanities.

A beggar came to the Imam, peace be on him, and complained to him of his condition, and he (the Imam) blamed him for this, saying: “Son of Adam is miserable. He faces three misfortunes every day, but he does not learn a lesson from them. If he learns a lesson from, misfortunes will be easy for him. As for the first misfortune, it is the day when his span decreases. When his possessions decrease, he becomes grieved. He can return the dirham but cannot return his span.

The second misfortune is that he earns his daily bread. If it (his daily bread) is lawful, he will be…