In the city of Bistam there once lived two nobles who hated each other because of an ancient enmity. However, it so happened that both of them wanted to learn the secrets of human nature and destiny under the same man, the famous sage Ali Beg, who lived in a remote part of Persia.
However, Ali, before accepting them, wrote to another sage, Ibn Hamza, who lived near Bistam, asking him to receive the two nobles and speak with them on his behalf.
But each of them refused to meet with Ibn Hamza.
“I want to fall to the root, not to the branch,” said the first.
The second one said:
- Ibn Hamza is nobody for me!
And so Ibn Hamza began to spread unworthy rumors about two “candidates for enlightenment.” A few months later, overwhelmed on all sides by nasty rumors, the trail of which led beyond any doubt to Ibn Hamza, two aristocrats felt themselves touched to the quick and, forgetting old grievances, burst into Ibn Hamza’s house, full of rage and anger.
“Do you know, O despicable worm, why we came to your house?” - they cried as soon as they saw Ibn Hamza.
“It is known for certain,” answered Ibn Hamza, “you came: firstly, because Ali Beg wanted to show you how petty and insignificant your “deep” hostility towards each other is; secondly, because it was necessary to demonstrate how easy it is to manage your superficial feelings if I forced you to come here, although everyone was firmly resolved not to do so; thirdly, although you did not obey the instructions of Ali Beg, you should know that some desires must be completed; fourthly, you are here to become, albeit involuntarily, teachers to the people present here; fifthly, Ali Beg and I needed to show the local residents, those who like to suspect and spread rumors, like the ones I spread about you two, that people of the heart are not easy prey for them, that their destructive habits can be turned against them; and, finally, sixthly, you are here because in the sequence of future events, facts and explanations, I see the prospect of turning poison into medicine and weapons into valuable tools.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru