قال حمزة الأعمى: وكنت أدخل على الحسن منزله وهو يبكي، وربما جئت إليه وهو يصلي فأسمع بكاءه ونحيبه فقلت له يوماً: إنك تكثر البكاء، فقال: يا بني، ماذا يصنع المؤمن إذا لم يبكِ؟ يا بني إن البكاء داع إلى الرحمة. فإن استطعت أن تكون عمرك باكيا فافعل، لعله تعالى أن يرحمك
Hamza al’amaa said: I would visit Hassan al-Basari at his house and find him crying.
Sometimes I would come to him while he was in pray and hear him weeping.
So I spoke to him one day saying: ‘You cry too much.’ He replied: ‘O my beloved son, what should the believer do if not cry? My dear child crying invites His mercy, so if you can spend the rest of your life crying, then do so. For perhaps Allah will have mercy upon you because of it.
I heard the above qoute in Shaykh Saalih munajid’s dars which you can listen to here:
http://almunajjid.com/node/2627
How true are these words of Ibn al-Qayyim:
Ibn Al-Qayyim said :
والرجل هو الذي يخاف موت قلبه لا موت بدنه
“A man is the one who fears the death of his heart, not his body.”
[“Madarij Al-Salikeen”, 3/248].
Mohammad Awan 