…They give preference to others over themselves, even if they be in poverty (khaṣāṣa)… He said:That is, in hunger (majāʿa) and poverty (faqr). The Arabs say a person is makhṣūṣ when he is poor (faqīr). Thus they gave preference to the good pleasure of God over their own desires. The act of giving preference to others over yourself (īthār) is the testimony (shāhid) of love.The saying has been related from Wuhayb b. al-Ward: ‘God, Exalted is He, says, “By My might, greatness and majesty, there is no servant who gives preference to My desire over his own desire, without My decreasing his worries, returning to him what he has lost, removing want from his heart, placing richness before his eyes, and trading in his interest through every trader. And by My might and majesty, there is no servant who gives preference to his own desire over My desire, without My increasing his worries, keeping him at a distance from what he has lost, removing richness from his heart and placing poverty before his eyes, and then I care not in which valley he may perish.”’ His words, Exalted is He: …Whoever is saved from the avarice (shuḥḥ) of his own soul — they are the successful.He said:That is, he who is saved from the covetousness (ḥirṣ) of his self and its miserliness (bakhl) in everything except God and His remembrance, will abide with God, enjoying a good life, a good life.His words, Exalted is He:
