Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 4 1886.djvu/311

 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FOLK-LORE. 803

him if God had created him to spend his life in this manner. This unnatural warning caused Ibrahim to repent and become a saint.

Chap. VII. on the miracles of saints. Siifian Suri is said to have brought up sugar and flour as well as water in his bucket when he dipped it in the well Zamzam.

Chap. VIII. on the acceptance of prayer. While Abubakr was praying in the mosque a thief came and stole his sheet and tried to sell it, but he was struck with paralysis in the act. This created a crowd to whom the thief told the truth, and they advised him to restore the sheet. This he did, and through the prayers of the saint recovered the use of his hands.

Chap. IX. on good intentions and second sight. Ibrahim, a saint, had, against his inclination, abstained from bread and milk for twelve years, when one day he attended a sick man and asked him what he would like to eat. On this the sick man asked him how he, who had himself abstained, could ask such a question.

Chap. X. on reliance on God. Siifian Suri and Shaibdn were travelling together to Makka, when they met a tiger. Sufian Stiri, remarking that the Creator of all was the same, caught the tiger by the ear and made it quite subservient to him.

Chap. XI. on generosity and almsgiving. A man, heavily in debt, asked a friend for a loan, which was at once given him, with the remark that he much regretted being so obtuse as not to have fore- seen his friend's need, and to have waited until the loan was asked for.

Chap. XII. on the chiefs of Isldm. 'Umar the Khalifa spent his nights in wandering about shutting open doors, rescuing stray cattle, and putting things straight generally. A friend once asked him why he did this himself instead of sending a deputy in his place. He replied, '' I am responsible before God."

Chap. XIII. on the devotion of women. 'Umm Amanta used to travel between Makka and Madina without provisions, and no one ever saw her eating. When asked why, she replied that once during a pilgrimage she was in a desert and like to die of thirst, when a pot of pure water came to her from heaven and saved her. Since then she took no provisions but trusted entirely in God.