Two pious and worthy men entered the mosque at the same time. The first one took off his shoes and carefully pushed them towards each other, leaving them outside the door. The second one also took off his shoes, folded them with soles and, putting them in his bosom, entered the mosque. This event aroused a dispute between other pious and worthy people who were sitting at the entrance and saw everything. They decided to find out which of these two did the right thing.
“The man entered the mosque barefoot,” said one of them, “so wouldn’t it be better to leave his shoes outside the door?”
“We do not take into account one thing: he could have taken the shoes with him so that they would remind him in a sacred place of proper humility,” objected another.
But those people, having prayed, went out into the street. The disputants, divided into two camps, each surrounded their hero and began to ask what caused their actions. The first person said:
“I left my shoes outside the door, guided by quite ordinary considerations: if someone wanted to steal them, he would have the opportunity to overcome his sinful temptation and thus gain merit for the future life.
The servants were delighted with the noble way of thinking of this man, who cared so little about his property and surrendered to chance. At the same time, the second person explained to his supporters:
“I took the shoes with me because if I left them on the street, they could arouse temptation in the soul of some person.” Anyone who succumbed to temptation and stole them would make me an accomplice in the Last Judgment.
The wisdom and nobility of this man delighted everyone who listened to him. But at that moment the third person present among them, who was a real sage, exclaimed:
- O blind people! While you were here indulging in sublime feelings, entertaining each other with examples of nobility, something real happened.
- What happened? - everyone asked at once.
“No one was tempted by shoes,” continued the sage, “no one was tempted by shoes.” The supposed sinner did not pass them by. Instead, another person entered the mosque. He had no shoes at all, so he could neither leave them outside nor bring them inside. Nobody noticed his behavior. And he himself least of all thought about what impression he would make on those who looked at him - or did not look. But through real sincerity, his prayers today, in this mosque, most directly helped all the would-be thieves who may or may not have stolen the shoes or who might have reformed by resisting temptation. Have you not yet realized that the practice of piety, no matter how wonderful it may be in itself, loses its value when one learns about the existence of real sages?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru