In Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani’s (q) time, there was a famous shaykh in Damascus who did not allow his mureeds or their relatives to socialize in public after Isha because Shaytan comes out then. That is why you see so many criminals operating at night. That shaykh had the habit of distributing any food in his house, cooked or uncooked, at night to the animals, who became accustomed to that and so they waited at his door. One night he forgot to do that, and he could not sleep as he sensed something wrong.
He asked his daughter, “Is there anything to eat in the house?”
She said, “No, you distributed it.”
He said, “No there must be some remaining food here.”
Then she remembered, “Someone gave us a leg of lamb that we did not prepare.”
He took that out to feed the dogs but they were gone, so he found them and fed them and they were content. Then he went home and slept. When he came out the next morning for Fajr and walked to the mosque, the dogs followed him to the door.
*There he said, “O my followers! One time I gave them meat and they follow me to the mosque so loyally, but I have been giving spiritual food to you for years and still you are not loyal to me!”* It means don’t let your hearts die.
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
