Abu Dardaa Radhiallaho anho says: "If three most enjoyable things were not there, I could not bear to live in the world, even for a day: (1) the joy of spending a hot summer noon in thirst (while fasting); (2) the bliss of lying prostrate before Allah Ta'ala in the later part of the night; and (3) the pleasure of sitting in company with the pious beings, whose conversation is interspersed with wise saying, that are picked like fruits of one's choice from a fruit-garden." Aswad Ibne Yazid Rahmatullah Alaihe took much pains in devotions and fasted in the intense heat of summer, so much so that his complexion became dark. Alqamah Ibne Qais Rahmatullah alaihe asked him, "Why do you put your body to so much torture." He replied, "I want it to attain a positon of honour, on the Day of Resurrection." Story extracted from the book Fadhail-e-Sadaqaa by Shaikh-ul-Hadith Muhammad Zakariyya (RA.).

Hadith: "When a man dies, the angels say, 'What has he sent forward?' And the people say, 'What has he left behind?"' (Bayhaqi)