When he was still a very young man, Hazrat Inayat Khan began to travel all over India, and during his journeys he had many interesting experiences.  Here is one anecdote from that period.

Once, on a journey, I had taken a room at Kandy in Ceylon.  During the hours of my meditation in the evening, whilst I was engaged in the sacred practices, I felt very restless and disturbed, and could not fix my mind on my meditation for a single moment. I became cross with myself and went to bed, but my uneasiness increased.

Then I got up and felt I must look in the cupboards. I did not know why I was doing so. I think perhaps my inner self wanted to guide me to the reason for such a unusual experience.  I found there, to my surprise, a bunch of black hair, looking as if some woman had collected her combings for a long time.

I spend a bad night, and in the morning the first thing I did was to ask the landlady who had occupied this room before me.  She said “Sir, don’t remind me of her.  The thought of her makes me feel ill.  A woman lived here for some time.  She never paid me my rent.  She called me bad names, fought with the men, and quarrelled every single day, driving away all my tenants. Now my heart is at rest since she has left this house.”

I said, “What a shame that you gave me such a room to stay in.”

She said “Sir, I gave you that room on purpose, because you seem from your looks to be a godly man, so that I was sure that this room would be purified by your good influence.”

I had no answer for her but a smile.