ÜÇÜNCÜ FEN · İKİNCİ BÂB · İKİNCİ FASIL · Beşinci Madde
**Article Five**
It is reported that little sleep is a characteristic of blessed individuals.
O esteemed one! Know that the most virtuous of the friends of God (awliya), namely, Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), would after the evening prayer, spend an hour or two sitting with his family and engaging in conversation. After his children had fallen asleep, he would rise, refresh his ablutions, perform two supererogatory prayers, sit upon his prayer rug, and await the blessings of God with profound reverence and decorum (engaging in muraqaba). When a little time passed before dawn, he would raise his blessed head and utter a single “ah!” That lamentation would release a light from his blessed mouth that illuminated the house. Even the straw within the mud walls would become visible. Thereafter, he would rise and perform ten prayers of tahajjud and three prayers of witr, awakening his family and children. Then, upon sunrise, he would offer the sunna prayer of the morning prayer and proceed to the mosque.
A man had purchased a slave girl. After evening, when he was alone with her, he said, “Prepare my bed so I may lie down.” The slave girl replied, "O master, does your master exist?" He said, "Yes, and I am also a servant. My Lord exists." She asked, "Does that Lord ever sleep?" He responded, "My Lord is the Living (Hayy) and Sustaining (Kayyum), He never sleeps.”
The slave girl rebuked his master by saying, “Should you not be ashamed to sleep and rest in the presence of your Lord who never sleeps?”
This admonishment from the slave girl affected his master’s heart. From then on, he made it a habit to abstain from sleep and devote himself to worship. Throughout his life, he did not enter a bed or under blankets. Through little sleep, he attained the station of the friends of God (awliya). For those who tread the path of the friends of God, there are three habits: First, they eat very little only when extremely hungry. Second, they sleep very little only when overcome by extreme drowsiness. Third, they speak very little only when necessary. The soul of one who sleeps much is sick and his affairs are difficult.
**Verse**
1-O eye, what is sleep? Arise in the nights. Observe the falling of the stars in the nights.
2-Look at the condition of the world, observe these wisdoms. Find the Creator, and be amazed by Him in the nights.
3-When you are occupied with strangers during the day, you become heedless. Abandon heedlessness and feel shame before your beloved in the nights.
4-Is it fitting for this humble servant to sleep with heedlessness? The Merciful One calls out with compassion in the nights.
5-Do not sleep the entire night if you love the Sustaining One. So that you may remain alive, O soul, in the nights.
6-Lovers do not sleep at night; nor should you sleep so that your beloved may be visible to the eye of the heart in the nights.
7-The heart is the abode of God; purify it from other affections. That Sultan will descend into its palace in the nights.
8-Eat little, sleep little, attain wonder; become non-existent from that. Find the eternal soul and be a guest with Him in the nights.
9-Be close to the people for the sake of Allah, night and day. O Truth! Burn in the hidden fire of love in the nights.