THE THIRTEENTH

This is Hâfız Halid17 (May God grant him mercy). He said:

“Yes, I confess that I was feverishly engaged in writing out rough drafts of the works  my Master disseminated in serving the Qur’an, when the post of imam in a mosque in our quarter became available. With the intention of dressing once again in my former  robe and  wearing the turban,  I temporarily neglected  my service and avoided doing it. I received a compassionate slap contrary to my intentions. Although for eight or nine months I acted as  imam, extraordinarily I was unable to wear the turban,  despite  the  repeated  promises  of  the  Mufti.  I  have  no  doubt  that  this compassionate slap was the result of my error. I was both someone addressed by my Master, and was his scribe of rough drafts. He suffered difficulties due to my neglect. In any event... Still, thanks be to God, we realized my error and understood just how sacred this service is. We were confident that  we had  behind  us a  Master  like a protecting angel, like Shah Geylani.

“The weakest of God’s servants, “Hâfız Halid”

THE FOURTEENTH

This consists of the three small slaps the three Mustafa’s received.

The First: For eight years Mustafa Çavuş (May God grant him mercy) attended to our  small private mosque, and saw to its stove, paraffin, and even the matches. I learnt later that for the eight years he provided for the paraffin and matches out of his own pocket. On the night before Friday in particular he would join the congregation as long as there was no other essential matter to attend to. Then, taking advantage of his ingenuousness, ‘the worldly’ said to him: “They are going to interfere in Hâfız’s – one of the scribes of the Words – wearing a turban. He should also temporarily stop making the call to prayer secretly. You tell the scribe to take off his turban before they remove it by force.” They did not know that it was extremely difficult for someone with a lofty spirit like Mustafa Çavuş to tell someone else employed in service of the Qur’an to remove his turban. But he told him what they had said.

That night I dreamt that Mustafa Çavuş came to my room with dirty hands behind the  Kaymakam. I asked him the following day: “Mustafa Çavuş, who did you see today? I dreamt of you with dirty hands behind the Kaymakam.” He replied: “Alas! The village headman told me to ‘tell the scribe.’ I didn’t know what was behind it.”

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18 An okka was the equivalent of 2.9 lbs. (Tr.)