Abu Bakr al Shibli was a high official in the court of the Caliph in Baghdad but he did not find what he was seeking there, and finally, falling out with the Caliph, fled to the desert. Then one day, he met the great Sufi Junayd, and said to him, “O revered One! You have the jewel of heaven with you! I also want to have it!”

Junayd smiled, and said, “You have to struggle and undergo hardships to attain that jewel. You were a high official under the Caliph – now go to the market and trade salt.”

For a year, Shibli devoted himself to the rough commerce of the market. Then he went again to Junayd, who said, “Some improvement, but not much. Still a long way to go.” And he sent him to beg for food.

Now Shibli, who had been wealthy and influential, went through the streets of Baghdad, humbly begging for food. “Do you realise your true worth now?” Junayd asked him.

After a year of begging, Junayd sent Shibli to seek forgiveness of everyone he had wronged during his time in the court of the Caliph. To do so he was obliged to travel through the whole kingdom, and it took him four years.

At the end of this time, Junayd set him again to beg for food, and as the people, who now saw something honest in him, were generous, he brought all he collected to the feet of his master, who distributed it to the needy. This continued for some seven years.

Then one day Junayd asked, “How do you feel now?”

Shibli replied, “I consider myself the least of God’s creatures.”

Junayd embraced his disciple, and conferred khilafat on him. Later, Shibli succeeded his master as the head of their Order.