One of the signs of a contented person is abstemiousness and satisfying himself with that which restrains and subjugates the soul.
Aswad and A’lqamah narrate:
One day when we approached Imam Ali (peace be upon him), we observed that before him lay a tray containing some date fibers and upon which lay two loaves of barley bread, the chaff of barley flour being clearly visible upon the loaves.
The Imam (peace be upon him) picked up the loaves and struck them on his knees till they broke and then proceeded to eat them with some salt. Observing this, we said to Fizza, the slave-girl: Why did you not remove the chaff from the flour for the Imam (peace be upon him)?
She replied: Had Ali (peace be upon him) eaten the delicious bread, its sin would have fallen upon my shoulders.
Hearing the conversation Amirul Mu’mineen (peace be upon him) smiled and said: I have myself instructed her not to remove the chaff.
We said: But why so, O’ Ali? He replied: In this way my soul is subjugated better, it becomes contented, and the Mu’mins shall continue to follow me till I depart from this world.( Daastaanhaai Az Zindagi-e-A’li, pg. 119; Anwaar al-Nu’maaniyyah, pg. 18. )