The Shaykh’s remarks on some of the illness that afflicted his eye due to excessive reading and repairing watches.

The Shaykh : While I was working in the shop on one hand, and visiting the Zahiriyyah Library on the other in order to consult the printed and manuscript works I needed, it appears that I overexerted myself. I felt that there was a black spot in my vision; when I looked at the wall, I saw it imprinted on the wall, moving back and forth. When I presented my condition to the specialist doctor, he called it a “flying fly” and told me this after asking me what I did for a living. I said to him: “I repair watches.” He said: “This is a natural thing, because a watchmaker always uses a special eyeglass for the right eye.” I said to him: “In addition to that, I have a passion for reading and studying, especially manuscripts.” So he gave me eye drops and advised me to stop working entirely, whether in repairing watches or in reading and studying, for six months.