While in Isfahan, Baba would spend much time with Ali Akbar and Chhota Baba. Baba remembered Aga Ali often and would kiss his photograph in Sobs and Throbs .
By the 20th, Baba was ready to move on and future plans were discussed.
"I have to remain in seclusion for four months," he stated. "For that purpose, Isfahan is not a suitable place. We have to go somewhere else."
After much discussion, Baba liked the suggestion of Yezd and inquired, "Who wishes to remain with me during my seclusion? Those who want to return to India may do so from here."
All were ready to stay with Baba except for Maruti Patil, who no longer wished to remain in Persia. Baba promised to send him home after reaching Yezd.
Baba then stated:
Think twice before you either accompany me or leave me. No one knows what will happen hereafter. Aside from shivering in the cold and having fevers, it is possible you might face other privations. Remember what hardships you have passed through up to now and then decide.
Don't trust me. If it is snowing and freezing outside — and if it comes into my head to continue the journey — you will have to come with me. I am not affected by anything. You should learn to bear everything.
So think carefully about your decision. If you want to go back to India, then go. If you wish to remain with me, all the better. It is best to stay with me. But while with me, think of yourselves as already dead, for you cannot do things according to your own wishes. Every moment, you will have to act according to my wish. If you do that, no one will ever touch even a hair on your head.
To help the men make up their minds, Baba quoted a few Persian couplets from various poems, the gist of which he explained as follows:1
If you entertain the thought of becoming a real lover, you should wash your hands of even your life!
One should be free and frank before crossing the threshold of the Master. The method in this darbar is to break the lover's neck, and the habit of its Emperor is indifference.
Footnotes
- 1.According to Jalbhai, when Baba heard that the tomb of Hafiz was in an unkempt condition in Shiraz (either on this trip to Persia or on an earlier one), Baba sent one of his disciples to see the Minister for Education there, and a new structure was subsequently built over Hafiz's grave and the gardens restored.