R. Yehuda ibn Attar (1655–1733), who served as rabbi in Fez, is regarded as one of the greatest leaders among Moroccan Jewry. A saintly and pious man, he was known as a miracle worker and was revered by the local Jews and Muslims alike. He refused to accept a salary from the community, working as a goldsmith instead.
It is related that he was once thrown into a lion’s den and miraculously survived unharmed (Shem Hagedolim). This protagonist of this story is often said to be—apparently in error—R. Yehuda’s kinsman, R. Chaim ibn Attar (see link below).
Link: Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar
Why are you afraid? Why do you panic?
Eagerly and with purpose, your soul plunged downward to live in an earthly realm,
to enwrap herself in a body of flesh and blood.
What emboldened her? What drew her to squeeze her unbounded light
into the straitjacket of time and space?
It was neither fear, nor dread, nor panic.
It was the knowledge that here below is found beauty the highest of angels cannot touch.
Care for yourself, for your family, for your fellow human beings and our lovely planet earth, not out of fear, not from distress—
—but out of love and awe for the beauty found within all these things, the magnificence we came to this world to uncover.