They say that one day on the street a dervish stood in the way of the Shah. Shah said:
“You, poor tramp, how dare you cross the path of your master!”
Dervish responds:
- What kind of ruler are you if you are not able to fill even my kashkul (alms bowl)?
He held out the kashkul, and the Shah ordered it to be filled to the top with gold. However, as soon as the bowl was filled with gold coins, they disappeared, and the bowl was empty again. Bag after bag of gold was brought, but the amazing cup was insatiable.
“Enough,” cried the Shah, “otherwise this scoundrel will empty my treasury!”
“In your opinion, I am emptying the treasury,” said the dervish, “I am simply explaining the truth to the rest.”
- Which one exactly? - asked the Shah.
— The cup is a person’s desires, and gold is what is given to a person. There is no limit to a person's ability to absorb without changing at all. Look, the cup has swallowed up almost all your wealth - but it’s still the same sea-weary coconut, there’s nothing gold in it.
“If you manage to fall into this cup,” the dervish continued, “it will swallow you too.” So why on earth does the Shah behave as if he were cut from a different cloth?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru