Mantic uttaïr, Anecdote about Ibrâhîm Adham

Ibrâhîm Adham once said to a man who was continually and bitterly complaining of his poverty: “My son, perhaps you have had nothing to pay for your poverty?” — “Your words make no sense,” replied the man; “you must be confused. Does anyone buy poverty?” Adham answered: “I, at least, chose it freely and bought it at the price of the kingdom of the world. I would buy one more moment of this poverty with a hundred worlds, for each day it suits me better. When I found this precious merchandise, I bade farewell to kingship. You see that I know the worth of poverty, while you do not; I am grateful for it, and you are ungrateful for it. Men of spiritual aspiration stake their soul and body, and burn them for whole years. The bird of their aspiration has reached even unto God; it has soared above both temporal and spiritual things. If you are not a man capable of such aspiration, withdraw, for you are unworthy to share in grace.”