Photo by Unsplash
Only a few people can give the shocking treatment a Sufi dervish/ master is capable of!
Not concerned with the intellect, or written words, a Sufi master will teach a lesson in the most unexpected manner, through a commonplace story, rather than choosing big words and complex ideas.
Here’s a beautiful-funny anecdote immortalized in the poetry of Mevlana Rumi, an immortal name in the Sufi line of prophets and poets:
“A dervish knocked at a house to ask for a piece of dry bread, or moist, it didn’t matter.
“This is not a bakery,” said the owner.
“Might you have a bit of gristle then?”
“Does this look like a butchershop?”
“A little flour?”
“Do you hear a grinding stone?”
“Some water?”
“This is not a well.”
Whatever the dervish asked for, the man made some tired joke and refused to give him anything.
Finally the dervish ran in the house, lifted his robe, and squatted as though to take a shit.
“Hey, hey!”
“Quiet, you sad man. A deserted place is a fine spot to relieve oneself, and since there’s no living thing here, or means of living, it needs fertilizing.”
You haggle and make jokes to keep what you own for yourself.
You have forgotten the One who doesn’t care about ownership, who doesn’t try to turn a profit from every human exchange.”
– A Dervish at the door, Mevlana Rumi
Copyright © [Meru]. All rights reserved.