The young man looked at me, picked up the food, and brought it to me. He asked me where I was from and what I did. I replied, “I am from Jīlān and I am here to study Islam.”

He further asked, “Do you know about a young man named ꜤAbd al-Qādir, who hails from Jīlān?’

I said, ”I am the person you are looking for.”

Hearing this, he became nervous, apologised to me, and said, “Your mother gave me eight dinars to give to you. When I arrived in Baghdad, I had money for my living expenses, but it took me many days to find you and I ran out of money. I have not eaten for three days. As I had no alternative, I have spent some of your money that I was entrusted with to buy this bread and meat for a meal. You eat this, as it belongs to you. In truth, you are not my guest, but I am yours.”

I comforted him and expressed my happiness with this. When we finished eating, I gave him the remaining food with some money, and saw him on his way.^[1] 

Passion for Islamic knowledge

Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānīرَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه  went about acquiring sacred knowledge in amazing and dedicated fashion. He himself recalls:

In my student days, I would take a lesson given to me by my teachers and head to the wilderness. There, whether I was in arid deserts,  empty wastelands, whether it was day or night, no matter the weather, I would never stop studying.

I wore a small ʿimāmah in those days and I would eat ordinary vegetables to remedy my hunger. Sometimes, I would not even