Bayazid, on his journey to the kaaba sought much

to find some one that was the Khizr of his time. He

met an old man with a stature bent like the new
moon; he saw in him the majesty & lofty speech of
holy men
His eyes sightless & his heart illumined as the sun,
the old man said, “Where are YOU bound, O
Bayazid? To what place would YOU take the
baggage of travel in a strange land?”
Bayazid answered, “I start for the kaaba at
daybreak.” “Oh” cried the old man, “what do
YOU have as provisions for the road?”
“I have two hundred silver dirhems & they are tied
fast in the corner of my cloak,” said Bayazid.
The old man said, “Make a circuit around Me
seven times & reckon this to be better than the
circumambulation of kaaba in the pilgrimage. And
lay those dirhems before Me, O Generous One.
Know that YOU have made the greater pilgrimage
& that your desire has been achieved.
Know that YOU have also performed the lesser
pilgrimage & gained the Life Everlasting.
Know that YOU have become pure & sped up The
Hill of Purity.
By the truth of the Truth(God) whom your Soul
have seen I swear that He has chosen Me above His
House.
Though the kaaba is the House of His religious
service, My Form too, in which I was created, is the
House of His Inmost Consciousness.
Never since God made the kaaba has He gone into
it & none but THE LIVING GOD has ever gone
into this House of Mine.
When YOU have seen Me, YOU have seen God;
YOU have circled around the kaaba of sincerity.
To serve Me is to obey & glorify God.
Beware! YOU think not
that God is separate from
Me.
Open your eyes well & look
at Me that YOU may
behold the Light of God in
man.”
This wonderful Sufi story is taken
from the writings of a great Sufi
saint Rumi.
The “I AM” Principle, the Indwelling
God in each man is highlighted in an
emphatic manner in this story.