The Shaykh proclaimed:

 I decide my matters based on truth. I have never lied or misrepresented anything. I never lied even in my childhood, back when I studied in madrasah.

Once, during Hajj season, I went to a forested area (in Jīlān). I saw a bull and began following it. Suddenly, it looked at me and said: یَا عَبْدَ الْقَادِرِ مَا لِھٰذَا خُلِقْتَ – “O ꜤAbd al-Qādir! You have not been created for this [type of activity].”

I rushed home, perplexed and anxious. I went to the roof of the home, and from there, I saw people standing in the plains of Arafah.

I then went to my mother and asked for her permission, so I may travel in the way of Allah Almighty, head to Baghdad, and acquire Islamic knowledge there. She asked what led me to this decision, so I told her of the incident with the bull. This moved her to tears. She brought the 80 dinars my father left in inheritance. I took 40 of them and left the rest for my brother, Sayyid Abū Aḥmad al-Jīlānī.  

My mother sewed these 40 dinars in a specific thobe of mine, which had many patches. She granted me permission to go to Baghdad, encouraged me to tell the truth in every situation, and accompanied me some distance outside Jīlān to see me off.

She declared: یَا  وَلَدِیْ  اِذْہَبْ   فَقَدْ خَرَجْتُ  عَنْکَ  لِلّٰہِ  فَہٰذَا  وَجْہٌ  لَا  اَرَاہُ   اِلٰی   یَوْمِ  الْقِیَامَۃِ - “My dear son! Go! I separate from you for the sake of Allah. I will next see your face on the Day of Judgement.”

I departed for Baghdad along with a small caravan. On the way, our group was besieged by sixty highway robbers on horses, who