took me to the same Masjid. There was someone sleeping with two rags on him. When one of the blankets was taken off, I was surprised to see that he was the same person who had passed by me. The angels then asked me, ‘Eat his flesh.’ I said, ‘I did not backbite him.’ They replied, ‘You did. You thought badly of him in your heart and felt he was lower in rank than you and you were unhappy with him.’ I then woke up and was trembling out of the fear. I stayed at the entrance for thirty days at the same Masjid; I would only get up for Fard Salah and kept praying to see the same person so I can ask him to forgive me.

One month later, I saw the same person wearing two ragged sheets. I tried to get a hold of him; he started walking fast after he saw me following him. I then called him and said, ‘I want to talk to you.’ He replied, ‘O Ibraheem! Are you one of those who backbite in their hearts against Muslims?’ I fainted after hearing him reveal the unseen about me. When I got up, I saw the person standing by me. He asked, ‘Would you do it again?’ I replied to him, ‘No, I will never do this again.’ Then that mysterious man disappeared from my view and I never saw him again. (‘Uyoon-ul-Hikayat, pp. 212)

Dear Islamic brothers! The foregoing parable clearly shows that it is not necessary at all for a saint to be famous, wear unusually attractive clothes and turban and have a large number of disciples and devotees. Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ favours whomever He عَزَّوَجَلَّ wills. Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ has concealed His saints amongst His bondmen. Therefore, we should treat every pious person with respect as we do not know who is a jewel in rags (i.e. hidden Wali)!

Shaykh-e-Tareeqat, Ameer-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـه has said: Once I [the author] was travelling with the devotees of Rasool in a Madani Qafilah of Dawat-e-Islami. A beardless, thin and unattractive boy was sitting near us. Dressed in simple clothes, he was lost in his thoughts.

The train stopped at a station for two minutes. Getting off the train, the boy sat on one of the benches at the station. We all began to offer Salat-ul-‘Asr with Jama’at. We had hardly offered just one Rak’at when we heard the whistle [as the train was about to leave]. People started shouting that the train was leaving. We discontinued our Salah and were about to dash to