the other man; and the
second, that the best of them was he who had married the daughter of
the other man. He then withdrew promptly, lest he should be questioned
further, and the Sunnites said: 'He means Abu Bakr, because his
daughter Ayesha was married to the Prophet,' 'Nay,' said the Shiites,
'he means Ali, because Fatima, the Prophet's daughter, was married to
him.' The answer was certainly very clever; had it even been the
result of long reflection and deep consideration, it would have been
admirable, but coming as it did without any previous preparation, it
was still more so.

XII.

Shibab Ad-Din (flambeau of the faith) as-Suhrawardi was a pious and
holy Shaikh, most assiduous in his spiritual exercises, and the
practice of devotion, and successfully guided a great number of Sufis
in their efforts to obtain perfection. Many persons wrote to him for
his opinion on circumstances which concerned themselves, and one wrote
as follows: 'My lord,--If I cease to work I shall remain in idleness,
and if I work I am filled with self-satisfaction; which is best?' To
this the Shaikh replied: 'Work, and ask Almighty God to pardon thy
self-satisfaction.' The following is one of his verses:

'If I contemplate you, I am all eyes; and if I think of you I am all
heart.'

XIII.

Abu Ali Al-Jubbai was an able master in the science of dogmatic
theology, and had at one time a pupil named Abul Hasan Al-Ashari. It
is related that one day the two had the following discussion.
Al-Ashari propounded to his master the case of three brothers, one of
whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a
debauchee, and a reprobate; and the third an infant; they all died,
and Al-Ashari wished to know what had become of them. To this
Al-Jubbai answered: 'The virtuous brother holds a high position in
Paradise, the infidel is in the depths of hell, and the child is among
those who have obtained salvation.' 'Suppose now,' said Al-Ashari,
'that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his
virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?' 'No,' replied
Al-Jubbai, 'it would be said to him: "Thy brother arrived at this place
through his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou hast no
such works to set forward."' 'Suppose, then,' said Al-Ashari, 'that
the child say, "That is not my fault; you did not let me live long
enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedience."'
'In that case,