Page:A Moslem seeker after God - showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century (IA moslemseekeraft00zwem).pdf/114

 s. He dis

sembled: " I gave out publicly that I intended to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, while I secretly re solved to go to Syria, not wishing that the Caliph (may God magnify him) or my friends should know my intention of settling in that country. I made all kinds of clever excuses for leaving Bag dad with the fixed intention of not returning thither. The Imams of Irak criticized me with one accord Not one of them would admit that this sacrifice had a religious motive, because they considered my position as the highest attainable in the religious community. Behold how far their knowledge goes (Koran, liii. 31). All kinds of explanations of my conduct were forthcoming. Those who were outside the limits of Irak at tributed it to the fear with which the Government inspired me. Those who were on the spot and saw how the authorities wished to detain me, their displeasure at my resolution and my refusal of their request, said to themselves, * It is a calamity which one can only impute to a fate which has be fallen the Faithful and Learning/

"At last I left Bagdad, giving up all my fortune. Only, as lands and property in Irak can afford an endowment for pious purposes, I obtained a legal authorization to preserve as much as was necessary for my support and that of my children; for there is surely nothing more lawful in the world than that a learned man should provide sufficient to support his family. I then betook myself to Syria, where