It is related from Ibne Babawayh that one day the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) was sitting in the shade of a tree due to intense heat. Suddenly a man came and removed his clothes and lied down on the earth. He rubbed his stomach and forehead on the ground and said to himself, “O my soul beware! Allah’s wrath is more severe than this heat.” When the Holy Prophet looked towards him, he wore his clothes.
The Prophet called him and asked, “O Slave of Allah! I have never seen anyone doing this before, tell me what hasmade you do it”? He replied, “O Prophet! Fear of Allah is the sole reason. I was burning myself with this heat so that my self (nafs) could understand that Allah’s wrath (in hell) is more severe than this ordinary heat which I cannot bear.” The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied, “You have been fearing Allah as is the right to fear Him. And Allah has been glorifying and praising this deed of yours in the ranks of His Angels.”
Then the Prophet turned towards his companions and said, “Go to this man so that he may pray for you.” When they went to him, he lifted his hands and prayed, “O Allah! Guide us and escort us to the Right Path, and make piety our provision for the journey (of the hereafter) and make us enter Paradise.”