Islamic Stories - Junaid Baghdadi and Love for Allah

Once at the time of Hajj, there was a gathering inMecca of some
friends ofAllah; the youngest among whom was Junaid Baghdadi (ra). In
that gathering, there was a discussion on the subject of 'Love for
Allah'and as to who is the lover of Allah. Many of them expressed
their views on the subject, butJunaid (ra) kept quiet. He was pressed
to say something.
With his head bowed down and tears in his eyes, he said, "The lover of
Allah is he who forgets his own self, remains engaged in Allah's
remembrance with due regard to all itsrequirements; sees Allah with
the eyes of his heart, which is burnt by the heat of Allah's fear;
Allah's remembrance affects him like a cup of wine, he speaks the word
of Allah as if All-Mighty Allah speaks through his mouth; if he moves,
he does so underthe command of Allah; he gets peace of mind only
through the obedience of Allah; and when such a stage is reached, his
eating, drinking, sleeping, awakening and, in short,all his actions
are for thepleasure of Allah; he neither pays heed to the worldly
customs, nor does he attach any importance to unfriendly criticism by
people."