ʿUmar bn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 101H) said to Khālid bn Ṣafwān (d. 135H):
Admonish me, and make it concise.
So Khālid said:
O leader of the believers. Indeed, there are some people who have been deceived by Allāh’s covering (of their sins), and have been put to trial by the beauty of (people’s) praise.
So, the ignorance of others about you must not overpower your knowledge about yourself.
May Allāh protect us and you from being deceived by (Allāh’s) covering, and from being pleased with the praise of people, and from falling behind and being negligent with respect to what Allāh made obligatory upon us, and from being inclined towards desires.
He said: So he (ʿUmar bn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz) cried.
The he (Khālid) said:
May Allāh protect us and you from following (our) desires.
Source: Ḥilyah al-Awliyāʾ (8/18)
