Pleasant Stories & Anecdotes — Page 66
66 said: ‘Alas! I did not obey God even once. ’ The leader addressed the other thieves and said: ‘These words and the steadfastness of this person have transformed me. I cannot be a part of you. I repent. ’ At this, the other robbers repented as well. I believe that the legendary ‘making saints out of thieves’ refers to this very incident. Hence, Syed ‘Abdul-Qādir J i l a ni rta states that the first people who repented on his hand were thieves. (Malf ūzā t, vol. 1, p. 79–80; see also Malf ūzā t p. 369–370) 1 Consolation by a King It is written in a booklet that a king used to write the Qur’ānic text. A cleric pointed out that a particular verse was miswritten. The king drew a circle around that verse and said that it would be rectified. When the cleric left, the king removed the circle. When asked why he did so. The king said that, in fact, the cleric was wrong. I drew a circle to make him happy. Note that despite being a king, he did not want to hurt a lowly cleric. (Malf ūzā t, vol. 6, p. 342) 1. This narration is given in two places in Malfū z āt vol. I with varying de- tails. These narrations have been combined here. [Publisher]