Bayzid had lost his father in his childhood. His mother was forced to work hard to feed her child. When Bayzid grew up a little, he started mixing up and playing with fellow children. This worried his mother, as she was concerned that her child should not get into bad company and become a spoiled kid. Being a godly and very high-minded woman, she used to take great care of her son's upbringing. She always remembered what his father used to say : "My son will grow up to become God's Child. He will show people the reality and the way to reach that purpose".
In the same village, there lived a saint Fakir who used to provide education to the children in his school, and also took care of them. Any child who trained under him in his school, returned as a capable and noble person.
When Bayzid's mother came to know about this, she quickly took her child and went to meet that saint. She placed her request to the saint : "I am a widow. I have heard a lot about you and your school, and that's why I have come to you. This is my child. His father really wished from his heart, that his son would grow up to become God's servant and show people the real purpose of their life. Please give him a place in your school, take him up as your child, raise him as your own and make him what a human being should be. I'll leave him with you."
The fakir said, "Alright sister, today onwards this child will stay with me, and I will try my best to do as you have asked."
At the same time, the mother also had a strange condition. She said, "As he is a child and will be leaving his mother for the first time, he will surely miss me a lot and soon he will demand to leave and insist on going home. I beg you not to leave him because if he comes to me, then mother's affection will become a hindrance in this pious work. You send him to me only when he becomes a true child of Allah."
The Fakir was surprised to hear the mother make such a strange request. He realised that she was a god-serving person. He assured her, "Sister, what you have said is a great thing. Pray to Allah to aid me in this noble task, and I will also try my best. If Allah wills, your wish will come true."
The woman handed her child over to the fakir and left. Bayazid also started studying at the school with the other children. A few months later, the child started missing his mother very badly. When his patience gave up, he went to his master one day and cried out, "I must go to my mother, I miss her so much. Please give me one day off and I'll be back the very next day!"
The master was now in a grave dilemma. If he allowed the child to leave, then the promise made to the mother would be broken. If he refused him to go, the heart of the innocent child would be hurt. Master thought deeply, but could not comprehend any solution to the problem. He prayed to Allah, "now You yourself should find a solution. Please guide me, what should I do?" This prayer inspired him to the solution, that why not give the child a difficult lesson to remember!
Then he called the child and said, "Son, I'll give you a lesson. You have to learn it by tomorrow and recite to me, and then you can go." The child was delighted on this offer. He took the lesson from his master, and went home to read the lesson carefully. But he realized immediately that he would not be able to memorize such a difficult lesson until evening.
Being in trouble, the child thought why not ask the master to shorten the lesson, it is a little too much. But then he realized that doing so would not be appropriate, and he also knew that the master would not like it. He then remembered his mother's words, that Allah can do anything if he wants to, and that is what his master also said.
So he put the book aside and read the Namaaz twice. Then he began praying, "I've heard Allah can do anything. 'Allah! Please make me remember this lesson by evening, so that I can go to see my mother. I know it can happen if you want it to!" And after saying these prayers, he began to learn the lesson. As soon as he was sure that he remembered the lesson well, he went to his master, and asked him to listen to it. When the master heard the lesson, he was astonished, as he knew it could not be learnt so soon. The child had recited the lesson verbatim. For one thing, the master now understood that there was something different about this child, something beyond comprehension. He allowed the child to leave and said, "Go son; come back tomorrow."
The child took blessings from his master, and happily walked towards his home to see his mother. But when he reached home, the door of the house was closed. He knocked on the door, hoping to get an answer, but there was no response. He kept knocking and also called out to his mother, but he still did not hear an answer. Troubled, the child finally knocked on the door and shouted, "Mother, I am your Bayazid, open the door." The mother replied, "It is impossible for you to be my Bayazid. The master promised me, he cannot change his mind. My Bayazid will only come when he becomes the true child of Allah." The child was wise, he understood that his mother didn't want him to enter the house. So he stood outside the house and wept, and returned back to school.
When the master saw the child back so soon, he was surprised. He asked, "Is everything alright at home, son? Why did you come back?"
In great sorrow and tears, the child told his master the whole story. "When I reached home, the door was closed. Despite knocking a lot, mother did not open the door, and said that you cannot be my Bayazid. My Bayazid will come only when he becomes the child of Allah. Perhaps mother does not want me to come home." The child added, "although my heart hurts on not being able to meet mother, but I do not have any complaints against her; I understand that she wants my best and wants me to achieve something. Please pray to Allah that see is able to see me having achieved something. May all the hopes she has placed in me be fulfilled, because my mother is old and often ill due to work. Please pray to Allah for her health." Master said, "Son, I will pray to Allah every day."
Bayazid thus lived far away from his mother for sixteen years. One night, his master heard a voice after his prayers, saying that Bayazid's training was now complete. 'Allow him now to return home to his mother.' When he went to Bayazid, he found him praying to Allah. He hugged him, kissed him on the forehead and blessed him, saying, "Son, today your education is complete; your mother's prayers and sacrifice have raised your level of spirituality. You don't have to stay here any more. You can go home now."
Bayazid touched his master's feet, took his blessings, and went home to meet his mother. When he reached home, the door to the house was closed just like that day. But when Bayazid called out, his mother ran and opened the door in the first instance and saw that the light of God was visible in her son's eyes.
"Son, sit down, I will bring you hot milk, and then I will feed you." Praying to Allah, the mother said "Son, I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, so that I can see my child. I thank Allah many many times, that finally this day has come. Today, your father's wish has been fulfilled, and now Allah can call me whenever he wants."
It is for such Mothers, that great sufis like Bayazid Bastami are born!
