In Cambridge, Shri Nathji met another nuclear physicist friend of Priya Nath, Ibrahim Abu Shumays, who was an Arab from Lebanon.
At a time when no Hindu spiritual organisation was willing to offer any encouragement for Shri Nathji’s visit to the U.S.A., this Arab had said to Priya Nath:
Let your father come over! I shall stand by in case of any difficulty. He can even stay in my apartment!
It was only in the presence of Shri Nathji that Arabs and Jews would sit together.
Shri Nathji spoke to Ibrahim Abu Shumays in Arabic, quoting the Koran:
Bismillah ar Raihmaan ir Raheem
I begin in the name of the God who is Kind and Benevolent.
These are great words for the world, Shri Nathji said, those who believe in God shall find Him to be kind-hearted and generous. He is merciful to the sinner who repents, and He effaces his sins. The only condition is that the repentance be genuine. God is benevolent because He has granted to man such a beautiful world and has placed His strength in man.”
Shri Nathji quoted from Arabic writings:
Al Haqo mahsoosan val khalko maakoolan
God is that which can be felt, and the world is that which can be seen.
Al mutghayiyaran haadisan
All the changeable things in the world are an illusion.
Whatever is felt by us is nothing but Haq-God. Whatever is brought forward by reason alone constitutes the external world. That, which the soul feels and understands, is God, and that, which the senses perceive, is the world.
Islam means belief in God, Faith, and Surrender; the forsaking of one’s ego before the Will of God. A Musalmaan is one who remains steadfast on his principles–his Eemaan.
“Islam teaches Love. It is written in the Koran:
“Rabbul Aalameen!”
“God-Khudaa-is the Creator of all of creation.
“This means that He is not simply the Creator of any one nation or country, but rather the Creator of the whole world and everything that exists in it. In this one edict is seen a unity of all the people of the world, and a universal brotherhood of mankind.
Shri Nathji further quoted from Islamic sayings:
Bani aadam aazaaye yak deegarand
Ke dar aafareenash za yak jauharand.
Every man is a part of every other man,
For, in the beginning there was but One Source.
Shri Nathji continued:
“It was God and His Will that gave birth to everything.
“Man must love his fellow man as dearly as he loves himself; man must do for his fellow man that which he would have his fellow man do for him.
“Spirituality exists in various grades. There is the relationship of man with God, like that of a son with a father, and there is the ultimate consummation–man becoming one with God.
“The personality who brings the Message of God to humanity is linked with God like a ray of light is linked with the Sun. The ray brings the light of the Sun even though appearing to be separate from the Sun. The ray is, in essence, light itself, which is the essence of the Sun as well. Internally God and His messenger are united, but externally they appear separate because of the limitations of the human form.
“The Prophet of Islam once said the following words after returning from his state of meditation and prayer-muraakbaa. These are found in the writings of the Haadees:
“Anaa Arbun bilaa ain
I am Arab without the ‘a’-Therefore I am ‘rab’ which is God.
“Anaa Ahmadun bilaa meem
And I am Ahmad without the ‘ma’-therefore, I am ‘Ahd’ which is also God.
Ibrahim Abu Shumays was very impressed by Shri Nathji. Later, in a mood of spiritual reverie, he said to Priya Nath: Your father is a very wise man! That was the extent to which Shri Nathji had disclosed himself upon him.
The weather was hot and humid during those days, and Ibrahim would take Shri Nathji and Priya Nath to a drive-in restaurant and bring ice cream for them. That was the part ordained for him in the scheme of things for the service of God–Rab.