lovers of God, will, I believe, be convinced of the existence of Riza.
Saint Basher, son of Harith, narrates the story: In the Sharkia Lane of Baghdad, I saw a man who received a thousand stripes, but did not cry in his agony. He was then sent to prison and I followed him. "Why have you been punished so mercilessly?" I asked. "Because they have found out the secret of my love". "But why were you so strangely quiet while you were punished so severely", I asked in astonishment. "Because", answered the poor fellow with a sigh, "She was looking at me from her balcony". "Oh that you might see the true Beloved", I murmured. Hearing this, his colour at once changed, and with a loud cry he fell dead.
The same saint tells, another story: "While I was a student of Sufiism I went to Jazirai Abbadan,[1] where I saw a blind epileptic leper, lying on the ground while worms were eating his flesh. I sat by
- ↑ In Tigris.
