One day, I sat in a gathering and with us was Sa’eed b. as-Saaib at-Taaifee.  During the course of our gathering, Sa’eed was crying so much that I began to feel compassion and pity towards him.

I said to him, “O Sa’eed, you are listening to me speak about the people of Paradise [and not the people of the Hellfire], so why are you crying?”

He replied, “O Sufyan, and what should prevent me from crying?!  You are mentioning the people of Paradise and the good qualities that makes people deserving of Paradise, and I do not see those qualities in me!”

—Sufyān al-Thawrī [d. 161H/778CE]

(Read on pg 152-153, Salaahud-Deen ibn ‘Alee ibn ‘Abdul-Maujood, The Biography of Sufyaan Ath-Thauree. Darussalam Publishers. Riyadh:2005.)