The Prophet’s cousin, Abdullah Ibn Abbas, was in retreat in the Prophet’s mosque in Madinah, when a person came to him greeted him and sat down. “You seem to be upset about something.” Ibn Abbas said to him. “Yes, cousin of the Prophet. I owe someone a debt and, by the Prophet’s honour, I am unable to pay it.” “Can I speak to this person on your behalf,” Ibn Abbas asked him. “Certainly, if you so wish,” the man replied. Abdullah Ibn Abbas put on his shoes and set out. “Perhaps you have forgotten that you are in retreat,” the man said to him. “No. I have not forgotten, but I remember the Prophet saying,” and tears came into Ibn Abbas’ eyes as he recalled the Prophet’s words, “that it is better for one to leave a mosque where one is in retreat to do a favour to one’s fellow-man, and help him in whatever way one can, than to stay in retreat for ten years.”