prayer to me in secret and come out here to pray under this tree, for the sake of the pleasure you derive from the music of the birds over your head. But in so doing you mutilate as it were my love and you will not again obtain it perfectly." It is also reported that God once said to David, "O! David, that man is a liar, who pretends to love me and yet goes to bed and sleeps the whole time till morning. For does not a friend desire to see the countenance of his friend, and is he not eager to have intercourse with him? Whoever wishes to see me, will seek me and will find me."
The sixth sign of love to God, is when a man finds the • worship of God to be easy, inviting and delightful. It is related that a certain preacher[1] used to say, "I have served God in worship sixty years with irksomeness and constraint. I afterwards served him yet sixty years more, and my devotions were to me spiritual food; and in the absence or disuse of them, I did not enjoy a moment's peace or quiet of mind."
The seventh sign of love to God is, that a man loves the t sincere friends and obedient servants of God, and regards them all as his friends. He regards all the enemies of God as his enemies and abhors them. And God thus speaks in his eternal word. "His companions are terrible towards the infidels, and tender towards each other."[2] A Sheikh was once asked "who are the friends of the exalted and blessed God?" He replied:" The friends of God are those who are more compassionate to the friends of God themselves, than a father or a mother to their children."
