“…he who possesses truthfulness possesses all the virtues …”

On the tenth of July, I went to the Master in the early morning with something in my heart to say, but already there were people with Him and I saw no chance of talking privately.

“Come, Juliet, sit by Me,” He called as I entered the room. “Now, speak.”

How could I, before those people? I hesitated.

“All your hopes and desires are destined to be fulfilled,” He said, “in the Kingdom of God.”

This was my cue.

“I came to tell You, my Lord, that now I have only one desire, to offer my heart for Your service.”

“This you will also do, but all your desires will be fulfilled.”

He kept me to lunch that day. While we were waiting in the English basement for the lunch to be announced, Valiyu’llah Khan and I alone with the Master, He spoke again of my “truthfulness”.

“Oh,” I prayed, “may I some day have all the virtues so that in every way I can make you happy.”

“But he who possesses truthfulness possesses all the virtues,” said the Master. Then He went on to tell us a story. “There was once a disciple of Muhammad who

asked of another disciple, ‘What shall I do to please God?’ And the other disciple replied: ‘Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not covet,’ etc., etc., etc. A great many ‘do nots’”, the Master laughed. “He asked still another, ‘What shall I do to become nearer to God?’ And this one said: ‘You must supplicate and pray. You must be generous. You must be courageous,’ etc., etc., etc. Then the disciple went to ‘Ali. ‘What do you say I should do in order to please God and to become nearer to Him?’ ‘One thing only: be truthful.’”

“For,” continued the Master, “if you are truthful, you cannot commit murder. You would have to confess it! Neither can you steal. You would have to confess it. So, if one is truthful, he possesses all the virtues.

“I may tell you this,” He said to me, and He told me a thing so wonderful that, even to keep and cherish His words and read them over in the time to come, I cannot repeat it here.

“My Lord,” I said, “if ever I have told You an untruth it was because I deceived myself.”

“There are degrees of truth,” He answered, “but that word of yours which has so pleased Me was absolute, perfect, extraordinary truth.”