Abu al-Hasan and God

A well conveyed by a story Sufis told about an eleventh-century mystic, whose prayers had once been interrupted by a familiar voice. 'Oh, Abu al-Hasan!' God had boomed. 'Do you want me to tell people what I know about your sins, so that they stone you to death?'
'Oh, Lord,' he had whispered back.
'Do you want me to tell people what I know about your mercy, so that none will ever feel obliged to bow down to you again?'
'Keep your secret,' came God's conspiratorial reply. 'And I will keep mine.'

Excerpt from Heaven on Earth by Sadakat Kadri.