One vizier had a small son named Yusuf. One day he left his father’s estate and went for a walk.
And so he reached a deserted road where he liked to walk alone, and he walked along it, looking around. And suddenly he saw some old man in the clothes of a sheikh, with a black hat on his head. The boy greeted the old man politely, and then the old man stopped and gave him a sweet sugar cockerel. And when Yusuf ate it, the old man asked:
- Boy, do you like fairy tales?
Yusuf loved fairy tales very much, and so answered.
“I know one fairy tale,” said the old man, “this is a fairy tale about a Maghreb prayer rug.” I would tell it to you, but it’s too scary.
But the boy Yusuf, naturally, said that he was not afraid of anything, and prepared to listen.
But suddenly, somewhere in the direction where his father’s estate was, there was the ringing of bells and some loud screams - this always happened when someone arrived. The boy instantly forgot about the old man in the black hat and rushed to see who it was. It turned out that it was just some insignificant subordinate of his father, and the boy ran back as fast as he could, but the old man was no longer on the road. Then he became very upset and went back to the estate. Taking a moment, he approached his father and asked:
- Dad! Do you know anything about the Maghreb prayer rug?
And suddenly his father turned pale, shook all over, fell to the floor and died. Then the boy got very scared and ran to his mother.
- Mother! - he shouted, - misfortune!
Mom came up to him, smiled, put her hand on his head and asked:
- What is it, son?
“Mom,” the boy shouted, “I went up to dad and asked him about one thing, and he suddenly fell and died!”
- About what thing? - Mom asked, frowning.
— About the Maghreb prayer rug!
And suddenly my mother also turned terribly pale, shook all over, fell to the floor and died.
The boy was left completely alone, and soon the powerful enemies of his father seized the estate, and he himself was driven out on all four sides. He wandered for a long time throughout Persia and finally ended up in the khanaka of a very famous Sufi and became his student.
Several years passed, and Yusuf approached this Sufi when he was alone, bowed and said:
- Teacher, I have been studying with you for several years. Can I ask you one question?
“Ask, my son,” the Sufi said, smiling.
- Teacher, do you know anything about the Maghreb prayer rug?
The Sufi turned pale, clutched his heart and fell dead. Then Yusuf rushed away.
From then on, he became a wandering dervish, and walked around Persia in search of famous teachers. And everyone he asked about the Maghreb rug fell to the ground and died. Gradually Yusuf grew old and became weak. Thoughts began to occur to him that he would soon die and would not leave any trace of himself on earth.
And then one day, when he was sitting in a teahouse and thinking about all this, he suddenly saw that same old man in a black hat. The old man was the same as before - the years had not aged him at all. Yusuf ran up to him, knelt down and prayed:
- Honorable Sheikh! I've been looking for you all my life! Tell me about the Maghreb prayer rug!
The old man in the black hat said:
- Okay, have it your way.
Yusuf prepared to listen. Then the old man sat down opposite him, sighed and died. Yusuf sat in silence next to his corpse all day and all night. Then he stood up, took off his black hat and put it on his head. He had a few small coins left, and before leaving, he bought a sugar cockerel from the teahouse owner.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru