‘Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Ka’b al-Ahbar, “Inform me of taqwa,” to which he replied, “Have you ever traversed a path beset with thorns?”  He said, “Yes.” Ka’b said, “So what did you do?” He replied, “I gathered together my garments and trod cautiously.”  He said, “That is taqwa.”

(Baghaqi, Tafsir, vol. 1, p. 60)

(Read on pg 42, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, The Key to Paradise. Daar us-Sunnah Publishers. Birmingham: 2007.)