Hope

There was once a king, descended from a long and powerful line, whom adversity had driven from his position, and who was in flight before his enemies.

 

The king was soaked to the skin by rain and, in the middle of a desolate moor, came across a small hit used by shepherds. He thought that he would rest there for a little, and when he went inside he found that there were two shepherds already there, wrapped in blankets against the cold.

 

They welcomed him kindly, and shared their only food, some cheese and onions, with him.

 

The king said:

 

‘One day, when I am restored to sovereignty, I shall repay you in the coin of a king!’

 

Now, although both shepherds had offered the king food and were therefore equally generous, they were not both possessed of equal qualities in every way.

 

The first shepherd, therefore, strutted about telling everyone that he was better even than a nobleman, for he had given food to a king when there was nobody else to do so.

 

But the second shepherd, on reflection, said to himself:

 

‘My being in the hut, and my having some food with me, were accidents. My offering food to the king was a normal action. But the king, with truly royal generosity, chose to interpret these facts as the result of merit. Now it is for me to be inspired by this example, and to make myself truly worthy of such high-mindedness.’

 

Two or three years later the king returned to his rightful power, and he send for the shepherds. Each of then was given rich gifts and both obtained powerful positions at court.

 

But the first shepherd, not having exerted any efforts to improve and prepare himself, soon fell a victim to an intrigue, and he was put to death for plotting. The second shepherd, on the other hand, worked so well that when the king reached a great age, he was nominated and accepted as his successor.

The Rogue and the Dervish

A certain dervish planned an object lesson. He paid an actor to go to a town and set himself up as a religious teacher. ‘Collect all the disciples you can’ he said, ‘pretending to be a man of great sanctity. When I arrive, I shall unmask you. The people will realize that they have been fooled and will listen to my teachings, once I have shown them how shallow are their beliefs.’                                                                                                                                                       

 

Some months later the dervish entered the town and made his way to the mystic’s house. There was the actor, surrounded by adoring disciples who were showering him with gifts and praising his every word.

 

The dervish started to speak:

 

‘O people! Know that I have come to explain everything to you. I sent this man to prove how people will believe anything if they want to. Now I shall give you rue teaching instead.’

 

The actor said nothing at all. The people seized the dervish and carried him off to an asylum as a madman. The actor came to the barred window one night and said to him: ‘Although a vagabond in appearance I was wise enough to accept your advice. Although a wise man in your opinion, you were foolish enough to believe in your own plans. A crooked plan will benefit only the crooked, and a wise one only the wise.’

Wahab Imri

A man went to Wahab Imri and said:

 

‘Teach me humility.’

 

Wahab answered:

 

‘I cannot do that, because humility is a teacher of itself. It is learnt by means of its practice. If you cannot practice it, you cannot learn it. If you cannot learn it, you do not really want to learn it inwardly at all.’

Stain

It is related that a man went to the assembly of the master Baqi Billah of Delhi and said:

 

‘I have been reading the famous verse of the Master Hafiz. “if your teacher bids you stain your prayer-carpet with wine, obey him,” but I have a difficult.’

 

Baqi-Billah said:

 

‘Dwell apart from me for some time and I shall illustrate the matter for you.’

 

After a considerable period of time, the disciple received a letter from the sage. It said: “Take all the money you have and give it to the gate-keeper of any brother.”

 

The disciple was shocked, and for a time thought that the master must be a fraud. After wrestling with himself for days, however, he went to the nearest house of ill fame and presented the man at the door with all the money which he had.

 

‘For such a sum of money’ said the doorman, ‘I shall allot you the choicest gem of our collection, an untouched woman.’

 

As soon as he entered the room, the woman there said:

 

‘I have been tricked into being in this house, and am held here by force and threats. If your sense of justice is stronger than your reason for coming here, help me to escape.’

 

Then the disciple knew the meaning of the poem of Hafiz. ‘If your teacher bids you stain your prayer-carpet with wine, obey him.’

Source of Being

Allow the Source of Being to maintain contact with you: ignore the impressions and opinions of your customary self. If this self were of value in your search, it would have found realization for you. But all it can do is to depend upon others.

Day & Night

A scholar said to a Sufi:

 

‘You Sufi often say that our logical questions are incomprehensible to you. Can you give me an example of what they seem like to you?’

 

The Sufi said:

 

‘Here is such an example. I was once traveling by train and we went through seven tunnels. Opposite me was sitting a peasant who obviously had never been in a train before.’

 

‘After the seventh tunnel the peasant, tapped me on the knee and said: “This train is too complicated. On my donkey I can get to my village in only one day. But by train, which seems to be traveling faster than a donkey, we have not yet arrived at my home, though the sun has risen and set seven whole times.”’

Explanation

The assumption that anyone of worth can explain himself fully and lucidly in the time allotted him by those who want to learn what he knows – is either a joke or a stupidity.

The Light Weaving

They asked Firmani:

 

‘How did you know that such-and-such a man was vicious? You refused to converse deeply with him while hw was here, although everyone said that he was a saint.’

 

Firmani said:

 

‘If a stranger comes to ordinary men and says “Light is made by weaving. I wove all the light there is and was,” what do they realize?’

 

They answered:

 

‘They realize that what he says is untrue.’

 

Firmani said:

 

‘Similarly, when a vicious individual enters the company of a man of knowledge, it is not difficult to judge his condition, regardless of what people imagine or say.’

The Loan

A Man was telling his friends in a teahouse:

 

‘I lent someone a silver piece, and I have no witnesses. Now I am afraid that he will deny that he ever had anything from me.’

 

The friends commiserated, but a Sufi who was sitting in the corner raised his head from his knew and said:

 

‘Invite him here and mention in conversation, in from of these people, that you lent him twenty gold piece!’

 

‘That,’ said the Sufi, ‘is exactly what he will shout out – and everyone will hear him. You did want witnesses, did you not?’

Opportunity

The words ‘You have a chance,’ from the lips of the Authority, are worth ore than a hundred times ‘You are the greatest man in the world’ from the fool.