Maulana Taqi Usmani (may his shadow be lengthened) states: "Once, I was traveling by train in the Cape Town area of South Africa. On the way, the train stopped at a place in a hilly area, and we got down to pray. There, I saw a beautiful plant; its leaves were very beautiful, and the plant appeared very attractive and elegant. Instantly, I felt a desire to pluck its leaf. As soon as I extended my hand to pluck its leaf, my guide suddenly screamed out loud, 'Hazrat! Do not touch it.' I asked, 'Why?' He explained that it is a highly poisonous bush. Its leaves look very pleasant to the eye, but it is so venomous that touching it causes poison to spread through the human body, and just as waves of poison arise from a scorpion's sting, similarly, waves arise from touching it. I said, 'Thanks be to Allah that I did not touch it, and found out beforehand; this is a very dangerous thing, though it looks very beautiful.' Then I said to him, 'This is very dangerous; therefore, you told me, because of which I was saved, but if an ignorant person goes and touches it, he will fall into trouble and pain.' Upon this, he told an even more strange thing, which is that it is a wonderful miracle of Allah Almighty's power that wherever this poisonous bush grows, there is invariably another plant right around its root. Therefore, if a person's hand touches this poisonous plant, they should immediately touch the leaf of this second plant, and at that moment, its poison will end. Accordingly, he also showed that second plant at its root; this is its antidote. This is the exact example of our sins, and through Istighfar (seeking forgiveness) and repentance (Tawbah), the poison of sin is eradicated."

• Fazlurrahman