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A wonderful story from Alone with the Alone.

It was actually in Tunis that one evening, withdrawn in a prayer niche of the Great Mosque, [Ibn ‘Arabī] composed a poem which he communicated to no one. He did not even commit it to writing, but registered the day and the hour of his inspiration in his memory. A few months later, in Seville, a young man unknown to him, approached him and recited the verses. Overwhelmed, Ibn ‘Arabī asked him: “Who is their author?” And the other replied: “Muhammad Ibn ‘Arabī” The young man had never seen Ibn ‘Arabī and did not know who was standing before him. Then how did he know the verses? A few months before (the very day and hour when the inspiration had come to Ibn ‘Arabi in Tunis) a stranger, an unknown pilgrim, had mingled, here in Seville, with a group of young men, and had recited a poem which they, delighted, had begged him to repeat in order that they might learn it by heart. Having done so the stranger had disappeared without making himself known or leaving any trace.

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