Harun ar-Rashid received a party of intending students whose heads were filled with his wonders and the excitement of arriving so near to the source of the Teaching.
He said :-“Let one of you be your spokesman, and let him tell me of your feelings.”
One of the visitors stepped forward and said :-“We are stimulated by the Presence, and eager for the Knowledge, and elevated by the Tradition.”
Rashid said :-“That is a truthful account of your feelings. Because you all love the exciting, I shall have to give you the banal. You are to learn through life. And life - the key to knowledge - is the most banal of all things. You will have to undergo experiences which will make you understand life, not make it more interesting.”
One of those present exclaimed :-“That man whom you asked to represent us speaks for himself, and yet we must all be judged by his behaviour!”
Rashid said :-“He may think that he speaks for all of you. You may think that he speaks only for himself. But it is I who have agreed that he speaks for all. Are you already disputing my authority ? To do so shows that you crave excitement, and verifies the words which you are trying to refute!”