Ibn Al-Jawzi is reported to have said: 'Whoever does not read the stories of the Salaf (righteous people of the past) and the path that they tread, he can never tread that path. It is befitting for a person to know and understand that the nature of an individual (character) is like that of a thief. If a person only lives with the people of his time, his nature will steal from them and will become similar to their nature. But if he reads the lives of the Salaf, his nature will become like theirs and he will learn from their character'.–       Talbis Iblee