My father got me married to a lady of a noble family, and often used to ask my wife about me, and sheused to reply, "What a wonderful man he is! He never comes to my bed, nor has he approached mesince he married me." When this state continued for a long period, my father told the story to theProphet who said to my father, "Let me meet him." Then I met him and he asked me, "How do youfast?" I replied, "I fast daily," He asked, "How long does it take you to finish the recitation of thewhole Qur'an?" I replied, "I finish it every night." On that he said, "Fast for three days every monthand recite the Qur'an (and finish it) in one month." I said, "But I have power to do more than that." Hesaid, "Then fast for three days per week." I said, "i have the power to do more than that." He said,"Therefore, fast the most superior type of fasting, (that is, the fasting of (prophet) David who used tofast every alternate day; and finish the recitation of the whole Qur'an In seven days." I wish I hadaccepted the permission of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as I have become a weak old man. It is said that `Abdullahused to recite one-seventh of the Qur'an during the day-time to some of his family members, for heused to check his memorization of what he would recite at night during the daytime so that it would beeasier for him to read at night. And whenever he wanted to gain some strength, he used to give upfasting for some days and count those days to fast for a similar period, for he disliked to leave thosethings which he used to do during the lifetime of the Prophet.