one of the most sublime and terrifying things i have witnessed in terms of loyalty in this regard is a story i saw with my own eyes. i know someone who was content to be cut off from his beloved and the dearest of people to him and for whom death was sweeter than being abandoned for an hour in the company of a secret he had entrusted to him. his beloved made a solemn oath never to speak to him again nor would there be any news between them or to reveal that secret to him even though the owner of that secret was absent but he refused and persisted in concealing it while the other persisted in abandoning him until the days separated them.
ومن أرفع ما شاهدته من الوفاء في هذا المعنى وأهوله شأنا قصة رأيتها عيانا، وهو أني أعرف من رضي بقطيعة محبوبه وأعز الناس عليه، ومن كان الموت عنده أحلى من هجر ساعة في جنب طيه لسر أودعه، والتزم محبوبه يمينا غليظة ألا يكلمه أبدا ولا يكون بينهما خبر أو يفضح إليه ذلك السر؛ على ان صاحب ذلك السر كان غائبا فأبى من ذلك وتمادى هو على كتمانه والثاني على هجرانه إلى أن فرقت بينهما الأيام.