Concept

In this tale Abu Turab al-Nasafi, once his own striving has ceased, rides toward the enemy; but when the ranks are drawn up and the war-cry rises, he dismounts, spreads his cloak beneath him, makes his sword a pillow and his shield a bolster, and falls so deeply asleep between the two battle-lines that his companions hear him snoring. On waking he springs up to become the backbone of the fighters and the man who seals the breach in the line. A questioner marvels that he could sleep in a place where the bravest men's gall bursts from terror.

The story allegorizes the perfect inner security (tama'nina) of the friend of God: one whose heart rests wholly in God fears nothing, so he can find serene repose in the very place of mortal danger. His outward sleep is a 'sleep of the wakeful' — the body at rest while the spirit stays present and vigilant with the Beloved — and it contrasts the fearlessness born of true trust (tawakkul) with the trembling of those who rely on their o...