A day in the life of Shaykh Murabit al Hajj:

During the blessed time that I was fortunate to have lived with him in his own
tent, I observed his daily routine: He would usually awake at about 2:30 or 3:00
in the morning and begin the Tahajjud or night prayers. He would often recite for
a few hours, and I heard him repeat verses over and over again and weep. Just
before dawn, he would sit outside his tent and recite Qur’an, and then when the
first light of dawn was discernible, he would walk to the open-air mosque and
call the adhan. He would then pray his nafilah and wait for a short period and
then call the iqamah. During that time, I never saw anyone else lead the prayer,
and he would almost always recite from the last 60th of the Qur’an as is the
Sunnah for a congressional Imam to do so according to Imam Malik.

After the sun rose and reached the level of a spear above the horizon, he would
pray the sunrise rak’ahs and then return to his tent where he would have some
milk brought fresh from a cow. He would then teach until about 11:00 in the
morning and nap for a short while. After that, students would start coming again,
and he would continue to teach until about 1:00pm at which time he would
measure his shadow for the time of the midday prayer. He would then call the
adhan at the time his shadow reached an arm’s length past the post meridian
time as is the Maliki position on the midday prayer, if performed in congregation,
to allow for others to come from their work after the heat dissipates.
He would always pray four rakahs before and after the midday prayer and then
return to his tent where he would teach until afternoon. He would usually have a
small amount of rice and yogurt drink that is common in West Africa. Then, he
would measure his shadow for the afternoon prayer, and when he ascertained its
time, he would proceed to the mosque and call the adhan.After Asr, Murabit al-
Hajj would return to his tent and usually resume teaching and sometimes listen
to students recite their Qur’an lessons from memory and he would correct their
mistakes.
During any lulls in his teaching, anyone in his presence could hear him say with
almost every breath, “La ilaha illa Allah,” or he would recite Qur’an. At sunset, he
would go and call the adhan, pray Maghrib, and then sit in the mihrab and recite
his wird until the time of the night prayer. He would call the adhan, lead the pray
and return to his tent. He would usually have some milk and a little couscous
and then listen to students recite Qur’an or read Qur’an by himself. At around
9:00 pm whe would admonish himself with lines of poetry form Imam Shafi’s
Diwan and other well-known poets. He would often remember death with certain
line that he repeated over and over again, especially the following that I heard
him many times:O my Lord, when that which there is repelling alights upon
me,And I find myself leaving this adobe
And become Your guest in a dark and lonely place,
Then make the host’s meal for his guest the removal of my wrongs.
A guest is always honored at the hands of a generous host,
And You are the Generous, the Creator, the Originiator.
Surely kings, as a way of displaying their magnanimity
Free their servants who have grown old in their service.
And I have grown old in Your service,
So free my soul from the Fire
He often repeats these lines for what seems like an eternity, his voice
penetrating the hearts of all those within earshot. 
He once admonished me with lines of poetry, one after another, until I wanted
the earth to swallow me.
He said to me, “And what is man other than a comet that flashes brilliant light
for a moment only to be reduced to ashes.”
He told me several times, “Hamza, this world is an ocean, and those who drown
in it are untold numbers. Don’t drown.”
I have never seen anyone like him before him or after him, and I don’t think that I
ever will. May Allah reward him for his service to this din and his love and
concern for the Muslims.
He was never known to speak ill of anyone. Once when a student was studying
Khalil with him and asked what a certain word meant in the text, he explained to
him that it was a slow and clumsy horse. The student then said, “like so-and-so’s
horse?” At this Murabit al-Hajj suddenly became upset and said, “I don’t spend
much time with people because they backbite, so if you want to study with me,
you must never speak ill of anyone in my presence.” It is not well known by
Muslims that to speak ill of someone’s animals falls under the ruling of
backbiting.
Shaykh Murabit al-Hajj is a master of the sciences of Islam, but perhaps more
wondrous than that, he has mastered his own soul. His discipline is almost
angelic, and his presence is so majestic and ethereal that the one in it
experiences a palpable stillness in the soul. As the Arabs says, “the one who
hears is not as the one who has seen.” I was told by many people from his family
that had I seen him in his youth, I would have been even more astonished at his
devotional practices.
To God we belong to Him we are returning.
the great Murabit al-Hajj has returned to his Lord after over 110 years on this
earth. Please keep him in your prayers.