The King of the Franks was very fond of various parades and processions, and was also proud of his knowledge of philosophy. He asked a Sufi known as Agarin to instruct him in the highest wisdom. Agarin said:
“We offer you observation and reflection, but first you must know their scale, their breadth.
“We already know well how to expand our attention, having studied well all the preliminary steps leading to wisdom in our own tradition,” said the king.
“Very good,” said Agarin. “We will give Your Majesty a demonstration of our teachings at the parade tomorrow.”
The necessary preparations were made, and the next day the dervishes of Agarin marched in formation through the narrow streets of this Andalusian city. The king and his courtiers were positioned on both sides of their path, the grandees on the right and the warriors on the left. When the procession passed the courtyard, Agarin returned to the king and said:
“Your Majesty, please ask your knights on the opposite side what color the dervishes were wearing.”
All the knights swore on honor and on holy scripture that the suits were blue. The king and the rest of the court were amazed and confused, because they saw something completely different.
“We all clearly saw that the dervishes were dressed in brown clothes,” said the king, “and among us there are people of great holiness in the faith and deeply respected.”
He ordered all knights to prepare for punishment and demotion. Those who saw the brown clothes were sent away for a reward. All this activity lasted for some time. Then the king said to Agarin:
- What kind of witchcraft have you committed, villain? What can make the most honorable knights of Christian countries deny the truth, reject the hope of salvation, and show such signs of unreliability as to make them unfit for battle?
Sufi said:
- Half of the clothes visible from your side were brown, the other half of each cloak was blue. Without preparation, your bias causes you to deceive us. How can we teach anyone or anything under such conditions?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru