Identifying Paul

There are so many memories of a wonderful friend and mentor, but perhaps the first one of all sums many of them up even though, on the face of it, it is quite mundane. I had moved from England to New York in 1998 and had already attended a few meetings with a friend based in the city, but still had not met the pir-e dalil who was in charge of the khaniqah. I had been told he was called "Paul," but couldn't work out who he was. I soon learnt the names of the men who were talking the most or attracting attention, but none of them was called Paul. Those familiar with the khaniqah will appreciate that it does not usually take any time at all to identify who is in charge. A few weeks later, I heard someone address as "Paul" a silent and inconspicuous man who was sitting cross-legged in the seating space without a wall behind to lean on. After they had finished their conversation I went across the room to sit next to him and asked him, "Are you Paul?" He replied softly, "Yes. Why do you want to know?" I explained that I had moved from England and was now based 90 minutes away in Princeton, so I just wanted to introduce myself to the person in charge. He then offered without me asking, "You can stay over here at the khaniqah if you ever have any job interviews in the city." At the time, I thought that was a bizarre offer, since I had not asked about staying over nor alluded to interviews. Once I got to know Paul it made more sense, because this was a typical case of his mind working on one of its main preoccupations, namely anticipating how he might be able to help and save someone from having to ask first.