He is one of the ancient Shaykhs of Khurásán. He associated with Abú Turáb, and had seen Kharráz.[93] He was firmly grounded in trust in God (_tawakkul_). It is a well-known story that one day he fell into a pit. After three days had passed a party of travellers approached. Abú Ḥamza said to himself: “I will call out to them.” Then he said: “No; it is not good that I seek aid from anyone except God, and I shall be complaining of God if I tell them that my God has cast me into a pit and implore them to rescue me.” When they came up and saw an open pit in the middle of the road, they said: “For the sake of obtaining Divine recompense (_thawáb_) we must cover this pit lest anyone should fall into it.” Abú Ḥamza said: “I became deeply agitated and abandoned hope of life. After they blocked the mouth of the pit and departed, I prayed to God and resigned myself to die, and hoped no more of mankind. When night fell I heard a movement at the top of the pit. I looked attentively. The mouth of the pit was open, and I saw a huge animal like a dragon, which let down its tail. I knew that God had sent it and that I should be saved in this way. I took hold of its tail and it dragged me out. A heavenly voice cried to me, ‘This is an excellent escape of thine, O Abú Ḥamza! We have saved thee from death by means of a death’” (i.e. a deadly monster). Footnote 93: See No. 44. He was asked, “Who is the stranger (_gharíb_)?” He replied, “He who shuns society,” because the dervish has no home or society either in this world or the next, and when he is dissociated from phenomenal existence he shuns everything, and then he is a stranger; and this is a very lofty degree. 48. ABU ´L-`ABBÁS AḤMAD B. MASRÚQ. He was one of the great men of Khurásán, and the Saints of God are unanimously agreed that he was one of the _Awtád_. He associated with the _Quṭb_, who is the pivot of the universe. On being asked to say who the _Quṭb_ was, he did not declare his name but hinted that Junayd was that personage. He had done service to the Forty who possess the rank of fixity (_ṣáḥib tamkín_) and received instruction from them. It is related that he said: “If anyone takes joy in aught except God, his joy produces sorrow, and if anyone is not intimate with the service of his Lord, his intimacy produces loneliness (_waḥshat_),” i.e., all save Him is perishable, and whoever rejoices in what is perishable, when that perishes becomes stricken with sorrow; and except His service all else is vain, and when the vileness of created objects is made manifest, his intimacy (with them) is wholly turned to loneliness: hence, the sorrow and loneliness of the entire universe consist in regarding that which is other (than God). 49. ABÚ `ABDALLÁH MUḤAMMAD[94] B. ISMÁ`ÍL AL-MAGHRIBÍ.