Shaheed al Awwal Shaikh Muhammad bin Maki has related that Meytham said: One day my Master, the Commander of the faithful Imam Ali (a.s.), took me out of Kufa to the desert until we reached the Mosque of Ja’fi. Then he turned towards the Qibla and recited four units of Prayers. After finishing the Prayers he glorified Allah and stretched his hands saying,
“O Lord! How shall I call upon You when I have disobeyed You. And how shall I not call upon You when I recognize You and Your love is present in my heart. I have stretched my hands full of sins in Your presence and my eyes full of desires …… (till the end of a long supplication).”
Then he recited a supplication in a silent tone and fell into prostration and repeated, “Al Afw” (O Pardoner) a hundred times. Then he arose and came out of the Mosque and I started following him until we reached a desert. Then Imam drew a line and said,
“Beware, do not cross this line.”
Saying this he went away from me. The night being dark I said to myself, “You have left your Master alone in spite of several of his enemies, what will be your excuse in the presence of Allah and His Prophet? By Allah! I will follow him so as to inquire his condition in spite of disobeying his orders.”
Hence I followed him and saw him bending his upper body with his head into a well and talking with it, while hearing to it too. He became aware that someone was with him; hence he turned towards me and asked who it was. I replied that I was Meytham. He said,
“Did not I order you not to cross the line”?
I replied, “O my Master! I was afraid lest your enemies might harm you, thus I was uneasy.” He asked,
“Have you heard whatever I said (to the well)”?
I replied in the negative. He continued,
“O Meytham! My heart contains mysteries, and when it becomes narrow on account of it, I dig the earth with my fists and bury the mysteries under the stones, the Beeches grow from the earth, among my seeds this tunes in.”
Reference : Nafasul Mahmoom – Shaikh abbas Qummi (r.a.)