discuss the various branches of knowledge. Those present were struck dumb by his discourse and became so absorbed that they neglected the food.

Among the words I preserved from him during (1) that gathering was his statement:

“Allah—Exalted is He—says in some of His scriptures: ‘The people who remember Me are the people who behold Me; the people who give thanks to Me are the people to whom I grant increase (2); the people who obey Me are the people of My honor; and as for the people who disobey Me, I do not cause them to despair of My mercy. If they repent, I am their Beloved; if they do not repent, I am their Physician: I afflict them with trials so that I may cleanse them of their faults.’” (3)

Much good was realized in that session, and more than one shaykh was in attendance. Afterward the Shaykh continued in his customary manner.

[Discussion of the issue of undertaking journeys and the episodes that befell the Shaykh]

In the year 726 AH, debate flared over the question of setting out on a journey and riding mounts to visit the graves of prophets and the righteous. They discovered a written reply of the Shaykh on that matter—penned many years earlier—which set out the two positions on the issue and the evidence advanced for each of them (4).