His words cast a gloom over Ghiaspur. I sought audience with the Khwaja Sahib. When I came before him I broke down and wept. ‘If it is for me you cry,’ he said, ‘be assured you will follow us soon. And your wife will not linger in this caravanserai very long after you.’

I cried, ‘O Beloved of God! Take us with you so that we may continue to serve you in paradise.’

I became very low in spirits. Much as I told myself that life was no longer worth living because I could hardly see or walk unaided and that death would be a release from the sufferings of old age, I was afraid of dying. I would prefer being ill and in pain than going into the dreaded kingdom of Yama. I did not desire union with the Beloved; my toothless Ram Dulari was good enough for me.

One day in the month of Rabi-us-Sani of the year 725 of the Hijri of the Prophet (peace be upon Him) corresponding to AD 1324 of the Roman calendar, the Khwaja Sahib told us that he could hear the angels singing songs of welcome. But before he left the world he would purge his body of earthly dross by fasting for forty days. We pleaded with him. ‘O Beloved of God! Hakeems say that your body needs nourishment and even a week’s fast may be too much for it.’ He rebuked us. ‘Is this all you have learnt from me? Know you not that fasting and prayer are food for a better life than we lead on earth?’

A pall of melancholy spread over Ghiaspur. The Khwaja Sahib sensed our concern. ‘I will be with you till Thursday; on Friday I will depart,’ he told us. ‘Bury my remains in this courtyard. Do not let Khusrau (he was then in Lakhnauti) come near my grave lest I am tempted to defy the laws of nature and rise to embrace him. The message of Allah and His Holy Prophet (may peace be upon Him) will continue to be delivered to you by my chief disciple Makhdoom Nasiruddin. He will be your guide in this dark world, for he is Roshan Chiragh Dilli, light of the Divine Lamp in Delhi.’

It happened exactly as the Khwaja Sahib had foretold. It was on the morning of Friday, the 18th of Rabi-us-Sani 725 A.H. (3 April 1324) that the Khwaja Sahib’s soul winged its way to paradise. What cries of lamentation rent the skies! Hundreds of thousands of people from the neighbouring towns came to Ghiaspur. Women beat their breasts chanting Ya Allah! Ya Allah! Hazrat Roshan Chiragh, whom the Khwaja Sahib had named his successor, came out and pleaded in a tearful voice that such demonstrations of grief were forbidden by the holy law; he divided the mourners into different groups and gave them passages from the Quran to chant in unison.