Once upon a time there lived a mullah in a mountain village. One day his beloved donkey died. The cunning mullah buried the donkey near his saklya. He cleaned the grave, as graves are usually cleaned in cemeteries, and only one mutalim - a student of the mullah - happened to see his trick.
On Friday, people gathered in the mosque for prayer, and the mullah announced:
- Listen, people! The holy sheikh died suddenly while visiting me. I buried him near my house. Whoever comes to venerate the holy grave will go straight to heaven without delay.
People believed the mullah's words, and a pilgrimage to the grave of the “saint” began. Every day, believers go to worship... Well, and at the same time, of course, the mullah receives a lot. They give him bulls, and goats, and rams... They bring wheat, and butter, and cheese... The mullah got fat, got rich, lost count of his property...
What about that mutalim student? He kept listening to the mullah's stories and kept silent.... He was a smart guy, he studied hard, and he easily endured hunger and cold; he could not bear one thing: beatings. And the mullah beat his mutalim on the head with a stick for the slightest guilt...
Finally, the young man’s patience ran out. He took a donkey from the mullah’s stable and ran away. The donkey was fat, lazy, and not used to driving fast. He couldn’t bear the difficult road, he fell halfway... Hard - the young man had to think about it. “If the mullah catches up with me, he will kill me! Before it’s too late, I’ll bury the donkey!” He dug a hole in a hurry, somehow threw the donkey in it, buried it, and removed the hill to hide the traces, as graves are usually removed in cemeteries. He sits hungry near the donkey’s grave, thinking: what to do next? And at this time a horseman passed by. He stopped his horse, started talking, and then the mutalim remembered how his teacher acted and said:
“I accompanied one holy man on his journey. And he died suddenly... So I buried him and am sitting, guarding the grave... - Then I remembered what the mullah had told the believers, and added: - Whoever bows to the holy grave will go straight to heaven.
The rider was glad that he could get to heaven so easily, whipped his horse, and galloped off to his village. I told everyone about the holy grave!
Soon the believers began to worship. to come to the “saint”, and the young man did not yawn, accepted gifts from them and told various tales... He built himself a large hut, surrounded it with a stone fence, became rich... Rumors about the new holy grave reached the mullah. He wanted to go and see for himself. He came and recognized his mutalim.
- So here you are, the scoundrel who stole my donkey! - the mullah yelled. – Answer: who is buried here?
“There is no difference between this grave and the grave of your saint!” - shouted the Mutalim in fear of beatings.
- A! “I understand,” said the mullah. “So my saint is the brother of your saint!”
And he didn’t want to quarrel with the mutalim. For what? It was unprofitable for him to make noise.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru