When the great sage was thus refused by the priest, he was neither angry nor pleased, as he always strove for the highest good. Not to obtain food, or drink, or whatever else he wanted, but to save these people he spoke the following words:
When Bāyazīd was coming from his bath one morning during the Id festival, some one unwittingly emptied a tray of ashes from a window upon his head. With his face and turban all bespattered, he rubbed his hands in gratitude and said: “I am in truth worthy of the fires of hell; why should I be angered by a few ashes?” …
That devotee of mine, who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate, who is free from egoism, and from (the idea that this or that is) mine, to whom happiness and misery are alike, who is forgiving, contented, constantly devoted, self-restrained, and firm in his determinations, and whose mind and understanding are devoted to me, he is dear to me.