that people were standing in the plain of ‘Arafat. Thereafter, I came to my mother and requested her: ‘Let me devote my life in the way of Allah and grant me permission to go to Baghdad so that I acquire Islamic knowledge over there.’ My mother رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْهَا asked me its reason so I told her the incident of that bull. This incident moved her to tears and she brought the 80 dinars which my father had left in inheritance. I took 40 dinars from them and left 40 dinars for my brother Sayyid Abu Ahmad Jeelani. My mother sewed my 40 dinars in my clothes and granted me permission to go to Baghdad. She strongly advised me to tell the truth in every circumstance and accompanied me even till some distance outside Jeelan to see me off. She then said: یَا  وَلَدِیْ  اِذْہَبْ   فَقَدْ خَرَجْتُ  عَنْکَ  لِلّٰہِ  فَہٰذَا  وَجْہٌ  لَا  اَرَاہُ   اِلٰی   یَوْمِ  الْقِیَامَۃِ, i.e. O my beloved son! Go! Seeking the pleasure of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, I send you away from me and now I will not see your face until the Day of Judgement.

Then I left for Baghdad from Jeelan along with a caravan. On the way to Baghdad, the caravan was attacked by sixty robbers who started snatching valuables from the travellers of the caravan. They plundered everyone but no robber asked me [Sayyiduna Ghaus-e-A’zam رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه] for anything because I seemed to have nothing. Then a robber asked carelessly while passing by me: ‘O boy! Do you also have anything?’ I bravely replied: ‘Yes! I have forty dinars.’ The robber considered it a joke and moved ahead. After a short while, another robber asked the same question while passing by me, and I gave the same reply. Both robbers informed their chief about me.

Calling me [Sayyiduna Ghaus-e-A’zam رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه], the chief asked about the dinars. I gave the same reply as before. The chief searched me and really found forty dinars hidden in an inside pocket of my Qamees (shirt). All the people were amazed to see my truthfulness. When asked about the reason for telling the truth even in this situation, I replied, ‘Before I departed, my mother had made me promise to tell the truth in every circumstance, and never to speak a lie. I cannot break the promise I have made to my mother.’ Listening to this, the chief of the robbers burst into tears and said, ‘Alas! You have sincerely fulfilled the promise you made to your mother but I have been going against the promises for years I have made to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ.’