Editing The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim (section)

==Plot summary==
The story is a review of ''The Conversation with the Man Called Al-Mu'tasim: A Game of Shifting Mirrors'', the second edition of an earlier work, ''The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim''. Written by Mir Bahadur Ali, an [[India]]n lawyer, and published in 1934, the second edition is described by the narrator as inferior to the first edition, published in 1932.

The reviewer gives a history of the book, first describing the success of the first edition, the publishing of the second edition by a respected publisher in London, and the positive and negative reception given to it by critics. Borges states that though both books have been popular, the first had an original printing of 4,000 copies and was never reprinted, while the second is by far the better known, having been reprinted several times. The second has often been criticized for poor writing and for its obvious [[allegory]] to the quest of finding [[God]].

The narrator then summarizes the plot of the novel. The book is a [[detective story]] about a freethinking [[Bombay]] [[law student]] of [[Islam]]ic background. He becomes involved in a sectarian riot in which he impulsively kills a Hindu, after which he becomes an outcast among the [[Underclass|lower classes]] of India. He flees to a tower where he meets a robber of Parsee corpses collecting gold teeth. He then begins a journey across the subcontinent (the geography of which Borges describes in detail), interacting with untouchables along the way. He meets a man who, though destitute, is happy and spiritual. The student encounters many such people radiating a small amount of this spiritual clarity. From these experiences, he infers the existence of a ''perfect man'', whom he calls Al-Mu'tasim. (''Al-Mu'tasim'' means "he who goes in quest of aid" or "the seeker of shelter".)<ref name = Alazraki/> This perfect man is a higher spiritual being, the source and originator of this pure spiritual clarity. Obsessed with meeting Al-Mu'tasim, the student goes on a pilgrimage through [[Hindustan]] to find him.  He eventually hears the voice of the Al-Mu'tasim resounding from a hut. He pulls back the curtain and goes in. The book ends at this point. The reviewer then gives his criticisms of the work.

A long footnote at the end of the review summarises ''[[The Conference of the Birds]]'' (1177) by [[Attar Neyshapuri|Farid ud-Din Attar]], in which a group of birds seek a feather dropped in the middle of China by [[Simurgh]], the bird king. Thirty birds reach the mountain of Simurgh and there they find through contemplation that they themselves are the Simurgh.<ref name = Alazraki>{{cite book|last=Alazraki|first=Jaime|title=Jorge Luis Borges|year=1971|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0-231-03283-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/jorgeluisborges00jaim/page/22 22–23]|url=https://archive.org/details/jorgeluisborges00jaim/page/22}}</ref> (''Si murgh'' means "thirty birds".)<ref name = Alazraki/>