The 7th of June, 1988 is, indeed, a historic day. Shri Nathji sits in his bed, in his reddish-orange head kerchief. His voice appears weak, but he is otherwise all right. At about 4 p.m. Shri Nathji listens to some of his old ghazals, which he wants Priya Nath to present to Khuswant Singh, who is to come at 5 p.m.(1)“Mere dil men aa rahaa hai ab shabaabe bekhudiMy heart is filled with the zest of self-forgetfulness.(2) Ye shamaa jal rahee hai taake parvaane vahaan aayenThis flame is burning so that the moths may come.(3)Ye kyaa masti ka aalam hai naheen kuchh bhee yahaan baakiWhat a strange world of intoxication is this, in which nothing else exists(4)Aashanaa apnee haqueeqat se too ho larzaan hubaabO Trembling Bubble, recognize thou Thy Reality.The ghazals put new energy into Shri Nathji as he listens to them. By 5 p.m. he is writing more ghazals, reclining in bed in his bedroom, where he decides to meet Khushwant Singh.“At last a long-cherished desire is being fulfilled!”Khushwant Singh is taken by Priya Nath to Shri Nathji’s bedroom. He peeps in. Priya Nath announces:“Khushwant Singhji aaye hain!“Khushwant Singhji has come!”Shri Nathji stops writing, and looks up at Khushwant Singh, and, then says in a very loud voice in Persian:“Be- hijaabaana daraa az dare kaashaanaye maa“Enter thou within these doors without the least bit of hesitation,Suddenly, some Spiritual Power grips Khushwant Singh’s heart – and he rushes into the room and falls at Shri Nathji’s feet, bursting out into tears, even as Shri Nathji thumps him on his back and embraces him!“KhushwantDespite his self-professed agnosticism, Khushwant Singh’s soul had been in search of the Truth. He had once taught Religion at the prestigious Princeton University in America, and had met almost all the saints and sages in India and abroad. He had found Reality nowhere. In an article he had written, he had said: “These saints quote verses from Kabir and other scriptures – I know these writings more than they do. They fail to make any impression on me!”Here he was face to face with God in human form. Shri Nathji had embraced him in a gesture of Divine Love. A long lost soul had come back to Him. Khushwant Singh’s soul vibrated with an hitherto inexperienced feeling. His soul recognised the Universal Soul of Shri Nathji. His intellect and mind were baffled, bewildered. He had never met such a Being before in his life. The tears that flowed from his eyes were tears of Union, perhaps one which had come about after ages of separation.“Ye kiskaa hai?“Whose verse is it?”–when Shri Nathji recites complex Urdu and Persian couplets.“Aamad saihre nidaa za maikhaanae ma,Early in the morning I heard a voice from without my Tavern.Barkez ke pur kunam paimaanaa za maiArise! And let me fill thy cup with wine,Shri Nathji explains the Persian couplets. Here was a long lost soul coming before the Perfect Master, and the Perfect Master beckoning him to come within his tavern and partake of the Divine Wine he had to offer. The long lost soul was Khushwant Singh and the Perfect Master was Shri Nathji.“Main aap se bhee zyaada aapko pyaar kartaa hoon!“I love you more than you love yourself!”“Aap heere ho! Main aapko paihchaanta hoon!“You are a diamond. I know your worth!”Shri Nathji’s love for atheists was like the love of a mother for the little child that could not even recognize his mother.“Makaane yaar door az man, na par daaram na paa ai dil“The House of my Beloved is far away, I have neither wings nor feet, O Heart!This was the plaintive cry of the human soul trying to reach the Universal Soul. It was like the drop trying to reach the ocean. Shri Nathji spoke at great length on the drop and the ocean:“Samundar men katraa fanaa ho gayaa“The drop of water perished in the ocean,“The feeling of separation had existed in the drop only because it had at one time been in union with the ocean.”“Thus it is that the human soul finds itself helpless in the ocean of life and death, and yearns to unite with God from whom it had been separated in the first place. It is only through this Union that it gains Absolute Peace.”Shri Nathji told Khushwant Singh about his meeting with men of another age and time whom Khushwant Singh knew. Shri Nathji told him about Dr. Radhakrishnan, the late President of India, who had said about Shri Nathji:“He can change the life of a person in a single glance, such is Shri Nathji’s spiritual power.”Shri Nathji told him how Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the Founder of the Banares Hindu University, had set eyes on Shri Nathji and had said: “Aahaa! Aaahaa! Aisee moorti kahaan banti hai, kahaan banti hai! Karorron janmon ke apne punya udai hon, aur karorron janmon ke Mata-Pita ke punya udai hon tab aisee moorti banti hai!”Shri Nathji had told Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya an Urdu verse, which Madan Mohan Malviya noted in his diary:“Jo ghaafil vasl men hokar talaashe vasl men daurre“He who is in union, but is running in search of union,Indeed, God was within man. But, alas, man was fruitlessly searching for Him in the world around himself!He, after whom I ran from place to placeShri Nathji recounted his meeting with Sir Abdul Qadar the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court.“‘Sir, Abdul Qadar! Insaan zindagi kaa mazaa naheen letaa. Jab tak jeetaa hai maut se dartaa hai–jeene kaa mazaa gayaa! Aur jab marne lagtaa hai to jeene ki khwaahish kartaa hai–marne kaa bhee mazaa gayaa!“‘Man does not enjoy life! For as long as he is living, he is afraid of Death, so the joy of living is gone. And when he is dying, he wishes to live, so the joy of dying is also gone! “Sir Abdul Qadar was startled and asked me: ‘You are right, Hazrat! But then what must one do?’“‘Naa zindagi hai naa maut hai. Usskaa ek hukam hamen duniyaan men le aataa hai aur usskaa doosraa hukam hamen duniyaan se le jaataa hai!“‘There is neither Life nor Death. One order of His brings us into the world and another order of His takes us away.‘Musaavar khench laa tasveer jo aisee banaayi ho“‘O Artist, paint thou such a picture,At the conclusion of his hour-long sermon – which was one of the most powerful in recent days, and rendered in one of the most powerful tones in years – Shri Nathji said to Khushwant Singh:“Main ijaazat maangtaa hoon dobaara aane ki!He also added: “Unfortunately I won’t be able to remember all that you said – may be I can take some of your books to read.” “I shall not rest till my work is finished!”“What work?” asked Khushwant Singh.“My work of Love – Khushwant Singh left, asking for six photographs of Shri Nathji in the head kerchief, so that he could do a write-up on him.“It may inject greater faith in him. Never mind!”Priya Nath knows that Shri Nathji had used his Divine Power and exerted Himself physically no end, only to please Priya Nath, because Priya Nath had always been fond of Khushwant Singh as his favourite author.“Kabhi ai Haqueeqate Muntazar “O Thou much awaited RealityPriya Nath had at that time, written to Khushwant Singh that the ‘Haqueeqate Muntazar’ was very much on the planet earth in the form of Shri Nathji.“Vo jo hosho akal havaas thhe teri yoon nigaah ne urraa diye“All the pent-up feelings of the intellect and senses were put to flight by Thy glance!Shri Khushwant Singh had been known to be fond of wine. But this was an inexperienced intoxication, of a wine that was of another world. As Shri Nathji used to say:“Bayaa ai Sheikh dar khumkhaanaye maa“O Sheikh! Come to my drinking Tavern