"Although he had such a faith, which was too great to suffice all the inhabitants of the earth, he was afraid that his heart might go astray. So, he used to utter, while weeping: ?Would that I have been a bitten tree!' Whenever he was reminded of his position in Allah's sight, he would say: ?By Allah! I would not rest assured and feel safe from THE DECEPTION OF ALLAH (la amanu limakr Allah), even if I had one foot in paradise.'" (Khalid Muhammad Khalid, Successors of the Messenger, translated by Muhammad Mahdi al-Sharif [Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah, Beirut Lebanon, 2005], Book One: Abu Bakr Has Come, p. 99; bold and capital emphasis mine)
Can someone determine the authenticity of this statement? I found it in an anti-islamic website. If by chance that it is authentic, what is the correct translation and how can it be interpreted?
