to us that He mentions us in the Most High Assembly." And He said: «So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me»1.
THE PATERNITY OF RELIGION
These reports prevent me from drinking it if an opposer is present. At that moment, I ordered the servants to depart, and none remained with me but him. I said: "O my master—may Allah make me your ransom:
You have related that he — Exalted Glory — said: 'Whose paternity is not established, his brotherhood is not sound.' I would love for you to make known to me the cause of your acquaintance and from which place was your paternity?" He said to me: "Paternity has been proven sound from two men: one Indian and the other Hijazi. The paternity of the Hijazi was sound for the Indian, and the paternity of the Indian for the Hijazi, at one and the same time." I said to him: "How was that? For listening to this discourse gladdens my heart in every state." He said to me: "A Hijazi man had carried to me in some years goods from the land of Yemen and the goods of the Arabs. In that same year, a man from India carried to me jewels, rubies, musk, aloeswood, and the like of what is prepared from India. The two men gathered with me in the assembly while a group of merchants was with me. they discussed the matter of the countries and what each of them had prepared, and they debated regarding a matter of science. I saw the Indian triumphed with the proof over the Hijazi until he was silenced before him. So, I drew them both to my house when their virtue became clear to me, and they answered me in that. I summoned food and asked them to eat with me, and they ate. When we washed our hands, I said to them: 'I have conceived an opinion for you both; would you both accept from me what I have seen, for in it is fortune and righteousness for you both?' They said to me: 'And what is this opinion you have seen for us and are certain of the righteousness in it for us? Mention it to us.' I said