enters upon them, they become infatuated with her and corrupt her. If food is presented to them and they see a small amount in it, they blame it; some of them say to others: 'We had no need for the likes of this.' If the food is ample, they say: 'This is what is not needed; this is negligence, turning away, and a lack of intellect.' If two men among them debate, each one of them wants to manifest the virtue for himself and rise above his companion to lead over him, exploit his debate, overcome him, despise him, make him out to be a fool, and make him lawful [to attack]. Their purposes from the debate are nothing but victory, and their purpose from the drink is nothing but intoxication. If a man among them gets drunk, he shouts and rejoices with the fullness of his core, claps with his hands, and kicks the earth with his foot. If he departs, he sways from his intoxication and behaves rowdily toward whomever he meets. This is the discourse of what I disapproved of from you."

He [the Hijazi] said: I said to her, "O my lady, how was the discourse of my father's brothers, their companionship, what they used to do when they gathered, and how was their way?" She sighed deeply in my face and said to me: "O my son, your father—may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him—whenever he wanted to gather with his brothers in his house to honor them, he prepared what he would prepare of food and drink. Then he took charge of preparing what he wanted of their food and did not leave any of his servants or maidservants to touch anything of it. When he wanted their gathering, he dispatched the messenger to them and brought them. Not one of them would raise his sight except toward the spot where his foot fell. He would not look at a maidservant nor a servant, nor would he care for the opening of a door or the raising of a curtain. When their gathering was complete and the table was prepared and presented to them, the first to approach it would be the eldest of them in age, the best of them in manners, and the most abundant of them in science. He would gesture with his hand to the table and say: 'O Allah, by Your name we began, by You we were guided, by Your Gate we followed, and to You we turned back. O Allah, send down