Hasan Basri's (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) Story

Hasan Basri (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) was a well dressed handsome young man who used to wander in the markets of Basra. One day he saw a beautiful woman and started to chase her. The woman saw him and said "Are you not afraid?" Hasan said, "Of whom?" She replied, "Of Him who knows the lustful movement of your eyes and reads your intentions." Hasan felt the pinch of these words, but was so overwhelmed by her sensuality that he continued to chase the lady. She said: "Why are you chasing me?" Hasan replied "I love the beauty of your eyes." The woman said: "Wait, you will soon get your ambition fulfilled." Hasan halted there thinking that the woman had also fallen in love with him. After a while a slave girl came over to him with a covered tray in her hand. Hasan uncovered the tray and found two human eyes. The slave girl said, "My lady says that she does not want to own such eyes that could enchant a stranger." Back home, Hasan cried the whole night in repentance. In the morning he decided to go back to the lady and apologise. There he saw the house of the door closed and women crying inside. On inquiry Hasan found that the woman died last night. He went back home and cried for three days. The third night he dreamed that the lady was sitting in Paradise. He asked for her forgiveness and she forgave him. She said "It is because of you Allah has given me a high status in Paradise." He asked her for some advice. She said "Whenever you are alone, recite the praise and names of AllahSubhanu wa Ta’ala, and repent your sins every morning and every evening." Hasan brought her advice into practice and attained fame as a learned and virtuous man.