Pervasiveness of Time and Place

This story is about Shaykh Abu Yazid al-Bistami (may God sanctify his innermost being), also known as Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bistami or more commonly known as Bayazid al-Bistami, the sixth Shaykh in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, said the following:-

The venerable Bayazid al-Bistami set out on the road from Bistam, at the beginning of his spiritual development, and reached a place where he met a saint. That saint told him, “Return to the place from where you have come. You have left your purpose there and taken to the roads.”

The venerable Bayazid turned back. He had an elderly mother, whose service he entered and whose good pleasure he strove to obtain. He achieved his purpose.

Alluding to the intention of the Shaykh who gave Bayazid the order to return, the venerable Shaykh Muhyi’d-din al-Arabi said, “The essential object of the quest is pervasiveness of all time and place; no place is outside the scope of its pervasiveness. He intended to make Bayazid aware of this secret, and to make him understand that there is no need to go wandering on long journeys.”