There once lived a dervish whose reputation, thanks to his spiritual and worldly achievements, grew year by year.
One day he decided to get married. To the surprise of everyone who knew him, he chose the woman with the most disgusting character in the entire area.
A certain wandering woman, who visited him soon after his marriage, could not hide his curiosity at the sight of such a sinless man, every now and then interrupted and criticized by a stupid woman. He asked the owner to explain the reason.
Dervish said:
— Brother, when you penetrate the barrier of the obvious, many things become clear. The point is that my wife's speech prevents me from becoming too bossy. Without her, my position as a sage could turn my head. Besides, there is always a chance that she might see, by comparing her behavior with mine, that she could moderate her rudeness and secure heavenly bliss.
“Imitating the wise is, in fact, practice,” the woman thought to himself. He was deeply moved by the explanation, and as soon as he reached home, he married the most disgusting woman he could find. She scolded him in the presence of friends, relatives and students. And his calmness only increased her contempt and ridicule.
Less than a few months later, the woman’s wife completely lost her mind. She was so used to bullying people without causing any reaction that she once attacked an even more vicious woman with insults, who killed her.
The widowed woman again led the life of a wanderer and, in the end, again found himself at the house of a dervish, to whom he told his story.
Dervish said:
- If, instead of hastily practicing a half-understood principle, you had asked me, I would have told you that this is not a general rule, and would have shown you how to implement it in your life. Trying to do good to yourself, you did evil to others.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru