Sufi parable from Attar Once upon a time there lived a wise dervish. He compiled a philosophical work and dedicated it to the Sultan. Soon, however, he noticed that his patron knew nothing about philosophy, and devoted the work to someone else.
When the Sultan found out about this, he became very angry, called the dervish and invited him to resolve the difficult issue:
— If a girl marries of her own free will, is it possible to give her as a wife to another if the first husband did not die or divorce her?
Dervish replied:
— It’s possible if her first husband is impotent.
The Sultan felt ashamed and became even more angry. He gathered his court scholars, complained about the insolence of the dervish and asked them to expel him. The assembled scientists immediately agreed to this, saying that with the consent of the Sultan they were ready to drive away a hundred such beggars.
Dervish was invited to the scientists. But when he appeared, none of them dared to open their mouths. The dervish, laughing, told a well-known parable about mice who decided to hang a bell around a cat’s neck. The Sultan mercifully released him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru