Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 37900 — The words of Ibn Munabbih

It is narrated from Wahb bin Munabbih that he said: A man passed by a monk and asked: O monk, how is your remembrance of death? The monk said: Every step I put down or lift up, I consider myself a dead man. The man asked: How is the state of your vigor? The monk said: I do not think that any man could hear mention of Paradise and Hell and then have even one hour pass over him in which he does not pray. At this the man said: I pray and I weep until vegetation grows from my tears. The monk said: That you should laugh while acknowledging your sins before Allah is better than that you should weep while being vain about your deed. Indeed, the prayer of the vain man does not rise above his head. Then the man said: Give me some advice. The monk said: Adopt detachment from the world, do not snatch the world away from its people, and be like the bee: if it eats, it eats what is pure; if it brings forth, it brings forth what is pure; and if it lands on something, it neither harms it nor breaks it. And be sincere toward Allah as a dog is sincere toward its owners: they keep it hungry and beat it, yet it does nothing but show them goodwill and guard them.