Ibn as-Samáānī says: I have read [a letter] in which Imām Ghazali wrote to Abū Ĥāmid Aĥmed ibn Salāmah in Mosul, wherein he wrote: I do not see myself worthy of preaching because, a sermon is charity and its capital [nişāb] is practice and heeding the sermon oneself. How can one who does not have enough for himself, give charity? How can one who has not enough clothes himself, try to hide the nakedness of others? amma’l wa’až fa lā arā nafsī ahlan lahu; li anna’l wa’aža zakāh nişābuhu al-ittiáāž. fa man lā nişāba lahu kayfa yukhriju’z zakāh? wa fāqidu’th thawb kayfa yasturu bihi ghayruh? [It’ĥāf as-Sādah, vol.1/pg.16]
