One of the friends of great sufi al-Shibli tells of seeing him in a dream after he had died. He asked him what God had done with him, to which al-Shibli replied that God had placed him before Him and asked him if he knew why He had forgiven him his sins. Al- Shibli had suggested that it might be because of the good works he had done, the prayers he had performed, his fasting and pilgrimages, his having associated with pious people and his journeying in search of knowledge. To all this God replied that these were not the reason. Al-Shibli had answered that these were the only things he could think of that might have saved him, to which God had said: ‘Do you remember when you were walking in the lanes of Baghdad and you found a small cat made weak by the cold creeping from wall to wall because of great cold and ice, and out of pity you took it and put in inside a fur you were wearing so as to protect it from the pains of cold? Because of the mercy you showed that cat I have had mercy on you.
AL-DAMIRI
Reference: The Island of Animal
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