“I now saw,” continued Sultan Veled in his recital, “that Shemsu-’d-Dīn, uttering an intense cry, rent his garment, bowed down to Jelāl’s feet, lost in wondering admiration at this implicit compliance with the behests of a teacher, and then said: ‘By the truth of the First, who had no beginning, the Last, who will have no end, there never has been, from the commencement of creation, and there never, until the end of time, will be, in the universe of substance, a lord and master, heart-captivating and Muhammed-like, as thou art.’”
He now bowed down again, declared himself a disciple to Jelāl, and added: “I have tested and tried to the utmost the patient long-suffering of our Lord; and I have found his greatness of heart to be totally unlimited by any bounds.”
4.
Jelāl is reported to have said: “When Shemsu-’d-Dīn first came, and I felt a mighty spark of love for him lighted up in my heart, he took upon himself to command me in the most despotic and peremptory manner.
“‘Study,’ said he, ‘the writings of thy father.’ For a while I studied nothing else. ‘Keep silent, and speak to no one.’ I ceased from all intercourse with my fellows.
“My words were, however, the food of my disciples; my thoughts were the nectar of my pupils. They hungered and thirsted. Thence, ill feelings were engendered amongst them, and a blight fell upon my teacher.
“He came to me another day as I was, by his command, studying the writings of my father. Thrice he called out to me: ‘Study them not.’ From his sacred features the effulgence of spiritual wisdom streamed. I laid down the book, and never since have I opened it.”
5.
Jelāl is said to have related that Shemsu-’d-Dīn forbade him to study any more the writings of his father, Bahā Veled, and that he punctually obeyed the injunction.
But one night he dreamt that he was in company with a number of friends, who were all studying and discussing with him those very writings of Bahā Veled.