وَ عَنْ نَوْفٍ الْبَكَالِيِّ قَالَ رَأَيْتُ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ع ذَاتَ لَيْلَةٍ وَ قَدْ خَرَجَ مِنْ فِرَاشِهِ فَنَظَرَ فِى النُّجُومِ فَقَالَ لِى
It is related by Nawf al-Bikali that: I saw that one night Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, came out from his bed and looked at the stars, then he said to me:
يَا نَوْفُ أَ رَاقِدٌ أَنْتَ أَمْ رَامِقٌ فَقُلْتُ بَلْ رَامِقٌ فقَال:
"O Nawf, are you awake or sleeping?" I said: "I am awake, O Amir al-mu'minin." Then he said:
يَا نَوْفُ طُوبَى لِلزَّاهِدِينَ فِى الدُّنْيَا الرَّاغِبِينَ فِى الْآخِرَةِ
O Nawf! Blessed be those who abstain from this world and are eager for the next world.
أُولَئِكَ قَوْمٌ اتَّخَذُوا الْأَرْضَ بِسَاطاً
They are the people who regard this earth as a floor;
وَ تُرَابَهَا فِرَاشاً
its dust as their bed-cloth;
وَ مَاءَهَا طِيباً
and its water as their perfume;
وَ الْقُرْآنَ شِعَاراً وَ الدُّعَاءَ دِثَاراً
they recite the Qur'an in low tones and supplicate in high tones
ثُمَّ قَرَضُوا الدُّنْيَا قَرْضاً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ الْمَسِيحِ .
and then they are cut off from the world like 'Isa (Jesus).
يَا نَوْفُ إِنَّ دَاوُدَ ع قَامَ فِى مِثْلِ هَذِهِ السَّاعَةِ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَقَالَ
O Nawf! The prophet Dawud (David), peace be upon him, rose up at a similar hour one night and said,
إِنَّهَا لَسَاعَةٌ لَا يَدْعُو فِيهَا عَبْدٌ إِلَّا اسْتُجِيبَ لَهُ
"This is the hour when whatever a person prays for is granted to him
إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ عَشَّاراً
unless he is a tax-collector,
أَوْ عَرِيفاً
an intelligence man,
أَوْ شُرْطِيّاً
a police officer,
أَوْ صَاحِبَ عَرْطَبَةٍ (وَ هِيَ الطُّنْبُورُ)
a lute player
أَوْ صَاحِبَ كَوْبَةٍ (وَ هِيَ الطَّبْلُ)
or a drummer.
وَ قَدْ قِيلَ أَيْضاً إِنَّ الْعَرْطَبَةَ الطَّبْلُ وَ الْكَوْبَةَ الطُّنْبُورُ .
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: It is also said that “'artabah" means “tabl” (drum) and "kubah" means 'lute'.
