The Signs Of Love To God

The signs of love to God include little exterior devotion but continual reflection and the taste for solitude and silence. When others look at the lover, he does not see them; when he is called, he does not hear; when misfortune comes upon him, he is not grieved, and when success looks him in the face, he does not rejoice. He fears no one, puts hope in no man and makes no request of anyone (save God).

~ al-Antaki (9th century CE), tr. Margaret Smith.