This is a story about Bayazid, a Sufi mystic. Once, he was passing through a cemetery and he came upon a heap of skulls. Out of curiosity he took one skull. He…
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Identification is misery
Junaid, a famous mystic, was going through the market-place of the town with his disciples. And it was his way to take any situation and use it. A man was dragging his…
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Change the world
Bayazid, a Sufi mystic, has written in his autobiography, “When I was young, I thought and I said to God, and in all my prayers this was the base: ‘Give me energy…
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People are just the way you are
A man was sitting at the gate of a town, an old man. A rider stopped, a horse-rider, and asked him, “What are the people of this town like?” The old man…
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Scissors or needle?
It is reported in the life of a great Sufi mystic, Farid, that once a king came to see him. He brought a present for him: a beautiful pair of scissors, golden,…
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Trust in Allah but tether your camel first
This saying comes from a small story. A Master was traveling with one of his disciples. The disciple was in charge of taking care of the camel. They reached a caravanserai in…
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Bundle of miseries
A man used to call God every night with the same prayer. Again and again he would ask, “Do me one favour, just one favour — and I have been asking my…
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The wisdom of the sands
A stream, from its source in far-off mountains, passing through every kind and description of countryside, at last reached the sands of the desert. Just as it had crossed every other barrier,…
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The ant and the grasshopper
In a garden there lived an ant and a grasshopper who were very good friends. It was springtime and the grasshopper was having a lot of fun playing, singing, and dancing in…
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The ugly duckling
A little duckling was very sad because he thought he was the ugliest amongst all his brothers and sisters. They would not play with him and teased the poor ugly duckling. One…