O brother who thinks of the pleasures of this world and suffers distress at illness! If this world were everlasting, and if on our way there was no death, and if the winds of separation and disease did not blow, and if there were no winters of the spirit in the calamitous and stormy future, I would have pitied you together with you. But since one day the world will bid us to leave it and will close its ears to our cries, we must forego our love of it now through the warnings of these illnesses, before it drives us out. We must try to abandon it in our hearts before it abandons us.

Yes, illness utters this warning to us: "Your body is not composed of stone and iron, but of various materials that are always disposed to parting. Leave your pride, understand your impotence, recognize your Owner, know your duties, learn why you came into this world!" It declares this secretly in the heart's ear.

Moreover, since the pleasures and enjoyment of this world do not continue, particularly if they are illicit, they are fleeting, full of pain, and sinful. Do not weep on the pretext of illness because you have lost those pleasures. On the contrary, think of the aspects of worship and reward in the Hereafter to be found in illness, and try to receive pleasure from those.