When the Sufi Master Abu Said Abil-Khair was once traveling through a town, the darvishes there greeted him with great honor and housed him in a room at the local inn. The clerics of the town were jealous of his popularity and his influence with the people, so they sent a prostitute to tempt him, and make him lose favor in the eyes of thepeople.
She came to his room as he was meditating and danced enticingly infront of him. But he did not look up, and no matter what she did, he paid no attention to her. Finally, he did look at her, and said, "Get out, you whore!"
She was suddenly stricken with shame and ran from his presence to her home. The Sufi Master's words put into a state of severe agitation.She could not sleep, she could not eat. She kept pacing back and forth as the words rang in her head. She did not know that Abu Said had spoken them with the full attention of a Sufi Master, one who had completed the path of Love, and so the words had a profound effect on her.
For three days her mind was in this state, filled with the words "Get out, you whore!" "Get out, you whore!" until at last they entered her heart and became her zekr
And the whore within her got out.
By the mercy and compassion of Allah, she abandoned her profession and repented of her past. Eventually, she even became a disciple of Abu Said.
Taken from:"Muslim Saints and Mystics: Episodes from the Tadhkirat al-Auliya(Memorial of the Saints) By Farid al-Din Attar"
