Aga Eimani said: On the day Aga Bedabadi arrived; he said to father: I will eat only the food, which you arrange yourself and don't accept, that which others bring. By chance Hajj Shaykh ul-Islam brought a pair of partridges and said: I wish to make kebabs for the Aga. Father accepted them forgetting the directions of Aga Bedabadi. They were roasted and placed before the Aga for dinner. When he saw the partridge, he stood up from there and said to my father: "I told you not to accept anything from anyone." He did not eat even a particle from that.

If you wonder why Late Bedabadi did not eat the partridge of Late Shaykh ul-Islam, you should know that it is possible that the person who got it for the Shaykh might not have satisfied the hunter. Or that the hunter might not have made the prescribed intention; or he might not have said 'Bismillah' and there could be other possibilities as well, and as doubtful food causes hardness of heart that gentleman used to abstain from it.

In other words, the food that man eats is like a seed, which is sown in the earth. If the seed is good, its fruit would also be good, otherwise along with the seed, the fruit would also be bad. So if the food is lawful and pure, its fruit would be softness of heart, strengthening of soul and if it is unlawful and impure, it results in hardness of heart, materialism, inclination to selfish desires and depravity of spirituality.

It is also not surprising that the Aga knew about the filthiness and doubtful circumstances of the partridge, because piety and abstemiousness, especially refraining from doubtful foods bestows such purity and spirituality that one is even able to perceive matters beyond perception.

Religious scholars and elders of faith have narrated such incidents, or more superior to this, but since it is beyond the scope of this book, we shall mention only one story to emphasize the point.

The late Haji Noori has narrated in Dar us-Salam, Vol. I, Pg. 53 a story from the righteous man, Sayyid Murtada Najafi in the biography of the nephew of Bahr ul-Uloom - a pious scholar, the Late Hajj Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Qazwini that:

We went to meet a righteous and a pious gentleman with Sayyid Qazwini. When the Sayyid wanted to arise, that gentleman requested: Please sir, today fresh bread is baked in our house, please partake some of it. Sayyid accepted the invitation.

When the dinner spread was laid, as soon as the Sayyid placed a morsel in his mouth, he withdrew and did not feel inclined to eat further. The host asked: Why are you not eating? He replied: The bread is made by a lady in menses. That man was shocked. When he went in and inquired, he found that it was true. Thus, when he brought another loaf, the Sayyid accepted it.

When bread made by a lady in menses causes spiritual filth, which a person with subtle soul and purified conscience can perceive, what would be the condition of bread made by one who is contaminated with hidden and apparent filths?

It is mentioned in the circumstances of Sayyid Ibn Tawus that he never ate food at the preparation of which, name of God had not been recited. It is so, because the Almighty Allah says:

وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا مِمَّا لَمْ يُذْكَرِ اسْمُ اللَّهِ

"And do not eat of that, on which Allah's name has not been mentioned..." (Surah al-Anaam 6:121).

It is a pity that a time has come when during cooking, instead of name of God, music and instruments of vain pastimes are used and along with obedience of God, His disobedience is included.

Worse than this is bread from whose grains Zakat and share of the poor has not been paid or that, which is grown on usurped land.

Even though the person who eats it, is unaware of the facts, but its basic and definite effect is there for sure. This also explains why in this age, the hearts have become so hard that no amount of good advice is effective. Satanic doubts have dominated so much that a person having the position of certitude and faith and an owner of an immaculate conscience is very difficult to find.

In such circumstances, it is very surprising if someone leaves the world with his or her faith intact.