in a book he entitled “The Benefit Gained in Recounting the Worshipers of the City of Fez and Its Neighboring Lands.” We heard this book from him, with him reading it, I think in the year five hundred and ninety-three.
When you meet a Muslim, shake his hand when you greet him, and do not bow to him as the non-Arabs do, for that is a bad custom. It is reported that the Messenger of God, God bless him and grant him peace, was asked, “When a man meets another man, should he bow to him?” He said, “No.” He was asked, “Should he shake his hand?” He said, “Yes.” It is established that he said, “No two Muslims shake hands without being forgiven before they part.”
Counsel your household, your daughters, and believing women not to take off their clothes outside their own homes. Beware of passing a night without your written testament at your head, for when you sleep you do not know whether you will awaken among the living or among the dead. God retains the soul of one for whom He has decreed death in sleep when he sleeps, and ﴿sends the other back until an appointed term﴾ [al-Zumar 39:42].
Humility toward creation is elevation with God. Do not sit frequently with women or young boys, for this diminishes your understanding in proportion to your descending to theirs, alongside the trial feared from sitting with women. Counsel your women not to be soft in speech, ﴿lest he in whose heart is a sickness should desire﴾ [al-Ahzab 33:32], to remain in their homes, to lower their gazes, and ﴿not display their adornment﴾ [al-Nur 24:31] except where God has commanded them.
Beware of attendants entering upon your women, for they
