In the following brief anecdote, Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Khan tells about Hasan al Basri (642-728 CE), whose mother Khayra was a maidservant to one of the Prophet Muhammed’s most influential wives, Umm Salama.

Pir-o-Murshid Musharaff Khan told about Hasan al Basri: “His mother was most devoted to the Prophet Muhammed. She used to keep always a pitcher with water for when the Prophet came, so that this water was very cool for him to drink. Her son used to drink from time to time from this water. And when she told this to the Prophet, ‘What do you think, this little boy takes from your water,’ the Prophet asked ‘How many times did he drink from the water?’ She answered, so many times. And the Prophet said, ‘Then so many times he will receive the illuminations.’ And it became true, because her son became a great saint and a great poet.”

When the story was told, somebody commented, “Here in the West, people would say he has to be punished, because he took the water which was not meant for him.”

And Musharaff Khan answered, “Yes, because here in the West they have rooted out all that–not just the plant but even the roots they have tried to take out from that plant of beauty. Therefore it will take a long time here for the cultivation of the heart. But still, deeply hidden, some of the root is left.”