Some very wealthy mureeds wished me to give up my profession, and proposed to help me materially in order that my needs should be satisfied without trouble, and that I could thus be enabled to devote all my time to the Sufi call. I gratefully refused this proposal, for, being a Sufi, I did not care about appearances, believing always that the self was the one dependable staff of life; while music, being my very religion, was much more to me than a mere profession, or even than my mission, since I looked upon it as the only gateway to salvation.