A Message of Peace & a Word of Warning — Page 3
A Message of Peace and a Word of Warning 3 meaning and spiritual profundities of the Holy Book. They also gave him elementary instruction in Arabic and Persian. He learnt to read the two languages but did not acquire any proficiency in them. He studied some books on the indigenous system of medicine under the guidance of his father who was a renowned physician. This was the sum total of his formal education. True, he was fond of books and was usually occupied with reading them in his father’s library. But as learning and scholarship were not much esteemed at the time, his father wanted him to assist him in managing his mundane affairs and to interest himself in them and win social esteem and popularity. Hence his father tried to dissuade him from his studies and warned him against becoming a bookworm. It is clear that with such elementary education he could not have carried out the stupendous task entrusted to him by Allah. Therefore, Allah Himself became his guide and teacher and taught him the meaning of the Holy Quran, and the secrets of the spirit and of life. He illumined his mind with His own light and blessed him with the mastery