The narrator is not mocking him. He is an unbiased observer who presents both the negative and positive aspects of Khalid's story. to be cntd....

the narrator gives the impression that

The narrator does seem to mock Khalid at some points, but overall I think he holds a fairly high regard for him. The narrator seems to respect his subject, while approaching it with sarcasm.

The narrator's perception of Khalid seems to be enthusiastic and interested. He comments on his decisions and his successes energetically before allowing the scribe to continue the story, as if he is truly fascinated in the character. There is a sense of mockery, however, in the speaker's tone, but I think that is only because it is from the perspective of someone maybe older and more experienced than the young Khalid.

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The narrator seems to have a somewhat derisive opinion of Khalid. The entire book is sarcastic in tone, and the narrator mocks Khalid's emphasis on the spiritual. His beliefs and writings are often presented as being overly melodramatic, especially in his writings to the Medium and the Enchantress. He is also criticized for focusing on the metaphysical and not paying enough attention to how he will feed himself, although in places it is unclear how much of the criticism is Shakib's and how much is the narrator's.

Khalid is the man.

Each of the supposed sources of the Book of Khalid has a definite bias. On the subject of Khalid the person, the MS includes little to no information, lending him a sort of unquestionable spiritual authority. The Histoire Intime has nothing but information, but from the point of view of the disciple, finding significance in the least details to aggrandize Khalid's character. The narrator places himself as the filter for these two sources, giving Khalid credit for the "grit and stay he shows" and his lofty aspirations, but questioning the purity of his resolve and character. In so doing he attempts to humanize Khalid, removing his status as prophet but giving him credibility and relatability as a person.

I don't think the narrator is making fun of Khalid. Obviously upon finding Khalid's book he has questions as to its validity. But once he embarks on his mission to find Khalid and begins to learn the "truth" about Khalid's life from Shakib's book, he begins to fall under the spell of Khalid, just as Shakib did before him. In reading, I get the sense that the narrator has a reverent tone, not a mocking one, although it can be easy to confuse the two.

The narrator's view of Khalid seems to be a mixture of admiration and contempt. For on the one hand, he retells the criticisms from others, but at the same time, he is portrayed as pressing through and as a person of knowledge. Khalid is a complex character that the narrator does not always fully describe.