to the Hijazi: 'You have carried goods you wish to sell in India and buy with its price what you will sell in the Hijaz. I have chosen an exchange between you two so that you may shorten your exile and return to your countries with profit.' The Hijazi said: 'I did not travel for a profit I would gain, nor out of a desire for an acquisition I would acquire, nor for a trade I would enjoy.' The Indian asked: 'Then what is it that made you desire [travel], made you depart your lands and threw you into this distant town, carrying your soul upon danger?' The Hijazi said: 'Seeking science and a desire for it, and for meeting the scholars and wise men and taking from them, carried me to that.' The Indian asked: 'And what science do you seek with us?'

The Hijazi said: 'The Divine Science, the Divinely-inspired Religion, and the profound wisdom.' The Indian said: 'O man, you have manifested a deficiency of opinion, inconsistency, and a lack of understanding. I deem you too noble to be in the image of one who has no discernment nor intellect.' The Hijazi asked: 'And how is that?' The Indian said: 'Indeed, the Divine Science, the Divinely-inspired Religion, and the profound wisdom are only taken from your side, in your lands and homelands. For the Prophets appeared from your countries and were sent to you; the Truth appeared from your side and in your lands its lights shone. As for India, a man does not cease being a seeker of science, striving and desiring, until he knows the Divine Science, then he becomes self-sufficient from every state. Among the wise men are those who isolate themselves and remain in their houses; they do not seek any science after that, nor speak to anyone, but remain solitary in retreat. Among them are those who, when they hear the Divine Science, wander in the mountains, eat from the plants of the earth, practice asceticism in the world, and desire worship and striving. Most of those in India are ignorant and rabble who do not understand. Indeed, the Divine Science is taken from you because it is freely given from your side and is heard from the mouths of men in mosques, houses, markets, and at the crossroads.'