One morning when I went to him to begin a lesson...

One morning when I went to him to begin a lesson, I discovered that he had written me a warning in a satirical quatrain: Fati, who studies the branches of philosophy, Knows only ‘ph’, ‘l’, and ‘s’ of philosophy, [^8] My hope is that in the light of God She may unveil herself of philosophy! After receiving this quatrain, I very persistently began to request other verses. A few days later: Fati, one must journey to the Friend, The self of one’s own self one must transcend!

Bits of knowledge that toward yourself tend Are devils to avoid in the way you wend. [^9] Little by little, my insistent pleas had their effect, for a little later he composed this: Fati, you and the Reality of gnosis. what does it mean?! To apprehend the essence without attributes, what does it mean?! Without study of ‘A’, you shall not find your way to ‘Z’. Without having entered the spiritual path, being gifted— what does it mean?!

I listened with my entire soul to such succinctly expressed quatrains of enlightening advice. I hung them like pendants from my ears and became intoxicated by their sweetness. Suddenly, I came to realize that it would be a pity for message about gnosis such as these to be kept private. Therefore, I boldly persisted in my request that he not abandon the line he had taken up with composition of these massages.

I must confess that I was encouraged to persevere by the boundless kindness of that dear, and so, I augmented my pleas with a request for ghazal .[^10] He reproached me, saying, “What, am I a poet?!” But as before, I insistently persisted with my spiritual guide, and after a few days I heard this: In so far as the Friend is, you will not be harmed. In so far as He is, the dust of quality and quantity is naught Abandon whatever there is, and choose Him.

There is no more excellent advice than these two words. [^11] ***** You have not become a lover if you have a name. You are not a mad if you have a message. You have not become drunk if you have consciousness. Be considerate with us until you have the goblet. Days passed and every once in a while Imam paid the price of my ardent entreaties with a ghazal or with some writings.

With this turn of events, I would allow no further delay, and I first showed the collection of quatrains to my spouse, Ahmad.[^12] He also expressed his enthusiasm and encouraged me to pursue the case.