Jesus in Hadith and Muslim Traditions 267Jesus, peace be upon hirn, said, 'He who seeks after the
world is like one who drinks sea water; the more he
drinks, the more ms thirst increases, until it kills mm.'
It is related that the Messiah, peace be upon mm, passed
in ms wandering a man asleep, wrapped up in ms cloak;
then he wakened mm and said, '0 sleeper, arise and
glorify God! Exalted is He!' Then the man said, 'What
doyou wanthumme?Trulylhaveabandonedtheworld
to its people.' 50 he said to mm, '5leep then, my friend.'
Obaid, son of 'Umar, said, 'The Messiah, son of Mary,
peace be upon mm, used to wear hair clothing, and eat
wild fruits, and he had no son to die, and no house to be
demolished, and he stored up nothing for the morrow.
He slept wherever the evening overtook mm.'
Jesus, the Messiah, peace be upon mm, used to take noth
ing with mm but a comb and a jug. Then he saw a man
combing ms beard with ms fingers, so he threw away
the comb; and he saw anotherdrinking from a river with
the palms of ms hands, so he threw away the jug.
Jesus, peace be upon mm, said to the disciples, 'Take
the places of worship as houses, and the houses as alight
ing places; and eat wild vegetables, and drink pure wa
ter, and escape safe from the world.'
Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him, said, 'In the last
days there will be learned men who teach abstinence in
the world but will not be abstinent themselves, who will
teach men to take delight in the next world but will not
take delight in it themselves, and who will warn men
against coming before rulers but will not refrain them
selves. They will draw nearto the rich and keep far hum
the poor; they will be pleasant to great men but will
shrink from humble men. Those are the brethren of the
devils and the enemies of the Merciful.'
The folIowing is related from [abir, from Laith: