20. The Sheikh of Bahawalpur

We proceeded until Allahabad where the Sufi sheikh who was our friend is buried. When we were young, he had much love for us mystic youngsters, new converts to Islam. I had the desire to pray for his soul on his grave for a long time.

After six hours of travelling through arid landscapes of wildness and deserts, we arrived in a small perfumed oasis, the Mazar of our friend Captain Wahid Baksh Sial Rabbani, The Sheikh of Bahawalpur.

The trees that surround the Mazar are flowering and the perfume that impregnates the atmosphere is delightful.

There is so much vegetation and so much peace, the place is wonderful.

We recited Surah Yasin for the Sheikh, as is customary to do for friends and relatives who have passed away.
Although I was not one of his disciples, I always felt that he loved me like his son and he had always treated me as such. Until now his love and his behaviour are often for me a fount of inspiration for doing the right thing.

The people also come to the Mazar for their daily prayers in the adjacent mosque, and the children come for learning how to read the Quran in Arabic.

The son of the Sheikh brought us some food and on our way back we stopped by his sister to give her the rose perfumes that I had brought for her from Italy.