Two passages from the Syriac Life of the 5th century monk Barsauma of Samosata and from a Syriac homily dedicated to him report how young Barsauma was suddenly frightened when lying on the ground at night, looking at the stars and examining his conscience. As a result, Barsauma refuses sitting and lying position and adopts standing during the rest of his life. The article explains the reasons of his fear and argues that Barsauma’s attitude makes sense in the context of the spirituality of the Syriac ascetics known as so-called sons and daughters of the covenant (bnay / bnāṯ qyāmā). According to this reading of the two documents, Barsauma’s behaviour can be understood as a link between the covenanters and the early Syriac stylites. Barsauma’s covenant with God is to be seen as one more example of the individual covenants which played a pivotal role in the making of the early Christian monasticism.