Sufi parable from Attar During the time of Sultan Mahmud, there lived an old man who had a plum tree growing in his garden. He did not eat the fruit from it and did not allow his household to touch it. When the fruits were ripe, he filled a basket with them and took it to the Sultan in the hope of a good reward.
By chance he met the Sultan in the middle of the road and handed him a basket. The Sultan ordered one of the butlers to take the basket and detain the old man. The butler thought that he was ordered to arrest the old man and threw him into prison, where he languished for a whole year, since the Sultan forgot about him.
Suddenly Mahmud fell ill, and no medicine could ease his suffering. They thought that the cause of the illness was the unjust arrest of someone, and the butler remembered the old man. Mahmud was extremely saddened when he heard this news, and sent the old man to his treasury, leaving him to choose any jewel for himself. The old man chose a shiny ax to cut down the plum tree that had brought misfortune.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru