with the group, a stranger from Bejaia with a paralyzed hand.
There were shaykhs of the people of God with us in the gathering, esteemed upon God’s path, including Abu al-ʿAbbas al-Hassar and his like.
Whenever that entire group attended, they observed courtesy toward us. The gathering was therefore ours alone, and none among them spoke concerning the knowledge of the path but me. If they spoke among themselves, they referred their discussions to me.
The Poles came to be mentioned while he was among the group. I said to them, “My brothers, I shall tell you something wondrous concerning the Pole of your time.”
I turned toward that man whom God had shown me in my sleep as the Pole of the Time. He used to visit us frequently and loved us. He said to me, “Say what God has acquainted you with, but do not name the person specified to you in the visionary event.” He smiled and said, “Praise belongs to God.”
I began telling the group what God had acquainted me with concerning that man. The listeners marveled, but I neither named him nor identified him. We remained in the most pleasant gathering with the noblest brothers until the afternoon, without my telling the man that he was the one.
When the group dispersed, that Pole came and said, “May God reward you with good! How well you acted by not naming the person God acquainted you with! Peace and God’s mercy be upon you.”
It was a farewell greeting, though I did not know this. I have not seen him in the city since, up to the present.
(Muhammadan Inheritance)
