One day a king said to his advisor:
— Good thinking relies on exploring alternatives. Tell me what is better: to increase the knowledge of my subjects or to give them more food? Both will be useful for them.
The Sufi replied:
“Your Majesty, there is no point in giving knowledge to those who are unable to perceive it, just like giving food to those who cannot understand your motives.” Therefore, it is wrong to say that “both will be useful for them.” If they cannot digest the food, or if they think that you are giving it to them only to bribe them, or that they could get more, you will not achieve your goal. If they cannot understand what knowledge you are giving them, or cannot know whether it is really knowledge or not; or if they don't even understand why you are giving it to them, the knowledge will be useless to them. Therefore, it is impossible to answer your question right away; it needs to be analyzed in parts. First of all, consider this consideration: “The most useful person is useless, the most worthless person is valuable.”
“I don’t understand you, give me an example,” said the king.
Then the Sufi called the head of the Afghan dervishes, and he came to the palace.
“If you could act according to your understanding, what would you want someone to do in Kabul?” - he asked the leader of the dervishes.
The head of the dervishes, who knew the internal connection of events, replied:
“Here in Kabul there is a merchant who could, if he knew about it, make himself happy, benefit the entire state and serve the Path; and to do this he must only give a pound of cherries to one needy person.
Very excited by what he heard - for Sufis usually do not reveal such things - the king exclaimed:
- Bring this merchant, and we will force him to do it.
But the Sufi stopped him with gestures.
“No,” said the Sufi. “He must do it of his own free will, and nothing else.”
So, having changed into ordinary clothes, so as not to embarrass the merchant and not influence his decision, the king and the Sufis went to the bazaar. Without a turban and robe, the head of the Sufis now did not stand out among the other townspeople.
“I will take on the role of mediator,” he whispered to his companions as they approached the fruit stand.
And so the Sufi approached the merchant and, greeting him, said:
- I know one poor man. Would you donate him a pound of cherries?
The merchant laughed loudly:
“I’ve seen all sorts of cunning people, but this is the first time I’ve met a person who begs for cherries as alms.”
- Now do you understand what I meant? - the adviser turned to the king. “The most useful person has just been given the most useful offer before our eyes; but it turned out to be completely useless for anyone who could take advantage of this offer.
- But what does “the most worthless person is useful” mean?
Both dervishes bowed to him and asked him to follow them. Approaching the Kabul River, the Sufis suddenly grabbed the king and threw him into the water. The king did not know how to swim, so after swallowing water, he began to drown. But then a holy fool known throughout the city, nicknamed Kaka Divan - Crazy Uncle, rushed to his aid, who just happened to be nearby at that moment. He picked up the king and pulled him ashore. Other townspeople - stronger and more sensible people, also saw how the king floundered helplessly in the water, but did not even budge. When the king came to his senses, both dervishes said in one voice:
“The most useless person turned out to be useful.”
And so the king returned to his old traditional custom: to help, to the best of his ability, those whom he recognized as most deserving of this help, whether it was about education or anything else.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru