He said to us...

He said to us: Had the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) not prohibited exhibiting formalities for the guests, I would have taken the trouble of preparing some delicious food for you. He then proceeded to place some bread and salt before us. Seeing the food, my friend commented: In addition to this salt, had there been some vegetable too, it would have made a great meal! Salman pawned his pitcher and with the money, managed to purchase some vegetables.

After the meals my friend, praising God, said: All praise be to God that He made us contented with respect to what He has given us. [^5] Hearing this, Salman remarked: Had you really been contented, my pitcher would not have been pawned.

[^6] (This incident has also been narrated slightly differently in that the person involved was Abu Dharr and not Salman, and the thing sought was mint, not vegetable.) By Means of Contentment the Soul Becomes Submissive One of the signs of a contented person is abstemiousness and satisfying himself with that which restrains and subjugates the soul.

Aswad and A’lqamah narrate: One day when we approached Imam Ali (peace be upon him), we observed that before him lay a tray containing some date fibers and upon which lay two loaves of barley bread, the chaff of barley flour being clearly visible upon the loaves. The Imam (peace be upon him) picked up the loaves and struck them on his knees till they broke and then proceeded to eat them with some salt.

Observing this, we said to Fizza, the slave-girl: Why did you not remove the chaff from the flour for the Imam (peace be upon him)? She replied: Had Ali (peace be upon him) eaten the delicious bread, its sin would have fallen upon my shoulders. Hearing the conversation Amirul Mu'mineen (peace be upon him) smiled and said: I have myself instructed her not to remove the chaff. We said: But why so, O’ Ali?

He replied: In this way my soul is subjugated better, it becomes contented, and the Mu'mins shall continue to follow me till I depart from this world. [^7] Your Food or Your Ruler Sa’di, in his book Gulistaan*,* has recorded twenty four narratives in connection with the virtues of contentment, the last of them being the story of a devout worshipper, who after eating the food of the king, abandons his piety and contentment, and turns to greed and avarice.