Aphrahat the Persian Sage

Judge in yourself what I am going to tell you: suppose you happen to go on a long journey and, parched with thirst in the heat, you chance upon one of the brothers. You say to him, “Refresh me in my exhaustion from thirst,” and he replies, “It is the time for prayer; I will pray and then I will come to your aid”; and while he is praying, before coming to you, you die of thirst. What seems to you the better, that he should go and pray, or alleviate your exhaustion?