‘Arif billah Dr. Abdul Hayy ‘Arifi (Allah have mercy on him) told the following incident while discussing the effacement and annihilation of self ego (nafs),

‘The status of Allamah Sayyid Suleman Nadvi (Allah have mercy on him) is well known. He was an established scholar (expert in Arabic, Urdu, Persian and Hebrew with numerous publications). However, after his relationship with Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) his humility and self effacement was remarkable.

There was an illiterate individual in Thana Bhawan named Reham Ali. He provided some services to Hakim al-Umma, such as delivering milk at his home, etc. He later migrated to Karachi.

On one occasion in Karachi I saw Allamah Sayyid Suleman Nadvi (Allah have mercy on him) carrying the shoes of Reham Ali. I was shocked and inquired him regarding this. He humbly replied that he was doing this because he had seen Reham Ali carrying the shoes of Hakim al-Umma.’

Majlis e matab 1980s on CD