Attar of Nishapur is considered
to be one of the greatest of Sufi teachers, and was said to be an inspirer
of Rumi.
An Answer of Jesus
Some Israelites reviled Jesus one day as he was walking through their
part of the town.
But he answered by repeating prayers in their name.
Someone said to him:
'You prayed for these men, did you not feel incensed against them ?'
He answered:
'I could spend only of what I had in my purse.'
The Heart
Someone went up to a madman who was weeping in the bitterest possible
way. He said: 'Why do you cry?'
The madman answered: 'I am crying to attract the pity of His heart.'
The other told him: 'Your words are nonsense, for He has no physical
heart.'
The madman answered: 'It is you who are wrong, for He is the owner
of all the hearts which exist. Through the heart you can make your connection
with God.'
On Being Offered an Unacceptable
Donation
What! Would you with a sum of money
Erase my name from the Register of Dervishes?
The Tale of Fazl-Rabbi
One day a penurious old man went to see Fazl-Rabbi to discuss some
matter or other.
Because of weakness and nervousness, this ancient stuck the iron point
of his walking-stick into Fazl-Rabbi's foot.
Listening courteously to what the old man had to say, Fazl-Rabbi said
no word, although he went pale and then flushed, from the pain of the wound
and the iron, as it stayed lodged in his foot.
Then, when the other had finished his business, he took a paper from
him and put his signature to it.
When the old man had gone, delighted that he had been successful in
his application, Fazl-Rabbi allowed himself to collapse.
One of the attendant nobles said:
'My lord, you sat there with blood pouring from your foot, with that
old man in his dotage piercing it with his iron-tipped staff, and you said
nothing, nothing at all.'
Fazl-Rabbi answered:
'I made no sign of pain because I feared that the old man's distress
might cause him to withdraw in confusion, and that he might abandon his
application for my help. Poor as he was, how could I add to his troubles
in that manner?'
Be a real man: learn nobility of thought and action, like that of Fazl-Rabbi.
The Slave Without a Master
Wandering in a patchwork robe, his face blackened by the sun, a certain
dervish arrived at Kufa, where he was seen by a merchant.
The merchant spoke to him, and decided that he must be a lost slave.
'Because of your mild manner, I will call you "Khair" (good)
,' he said. 'Are you not a slave?'
'That I am,' said Khair.
'I will take you home, and you can work for me until I find your master.'
'I would like that,' said Khair, 'for I have been seeking my master
for such a long time.'
He worked for many years with this man, who taught him to be a weaver;
hence his second name: 'Nassaj' (weaver).
After his long services, feeling guilty of his exploitation, the merchant
said to him: ' I do not know who you are, but you are now free to go.'
Khair Nassaj, the great Master of the Way, traveled onward to Mecca,
without regrets, for he had discovered how to continue his development
in spite of having no name and being treated like a slave.
He was the teacher of Shibli, Ibrahim Khawwas and many more of the
great Teachers of the Sufis. He died over a thousand years ago, at the
age of one hundred and twenty.
The Magic Box
A man once wanted to sell a rough carpet, and he made a public offer
of it in the street.
The first man to whom he showed it said:
'This is a coarse carpet, and very worn.'
And he bought it cheaply.
Then the buyer stood up and said to another who was walking along:
'Here is a carpet soft as silk, none is like it.'
A Sufi who was passing by had listened to the buying and the attempted
selling of one and the same carpet with two different descriptions.
The Sufi said to the carpet-seller:
'Please, carpet-man, put me in your magic box, which can turn a rough
carpet into a smooth one, perhaps a nothing into a jewel!'
The Moon
The Moon was asked:
'What is your strongest desire?'
It answered:
'That the Sun should vanish, and should remain veiled for ever in clouds.'
The Five Hundred Gold Pieces
One of Junaid's followers came to him with a purse containing five
hundred gold pieces.
'Have you any more money than this?' asked the Sufi.
'Yes, I have.'
'Do you desire more?'
'Yes, I do.'
'Then you must keep it, for you are more in need than I; for I have
nothing and desire nothing. You have a great deal and still want more.'
The Madman and the Muezzin
A muezzin in Isfahan had climbed to the top of a minaret and was giving
the call to prayer.
Meanwhile, a madman was passing by, and someone asked him:
'What is he doing there, in that minaret? '
The madman said:
'That man up there is in fact shaking a nutshell which has nothing
within it.'
When you speak the ninety-nine Names of God, you are, similarly, playing
with a hollow nutshell. How can God be understood through names?
Since you cannot speak in words about the essence of God, best of all
speak about nobody at all.
Meditation on the Holy Koran
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