There was once an old Sufi who earned his living by selling all sorts of odds and ends.
It seemed as if the man had no judgment because people would frequently pay him in bad coins and he would accept them without a word of protest. Or people would claim they had paid him when they hadn’t, and he accepted their word for it.
When it was time for him to die, he raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Oh Allah! I have accepted many bad coins from people, but never once did I judge them in my heart. I just assumed that they were not aware of what they did. I am a bad coin too. Please do not judge me.”
At that moment the old Sufi heard a Voice from the heavens. “How is it possible to judge someone who has not judged others?”
More in The Prayer of the Frog (Volume I) by Anthony de Mello.
Anthony de Mello (1931-1987) was an Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist. A spiritual teacher, writer and public speaker, De Mello wrote several books on spirituality and hosted numerous spiritual retreats and conferences. He continues to be known for his storytelling, which drew from the various mystical traditions of both East and West.
Pic: India commemorative postage stamps issued in 2012 on the occasion of the 800th Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Dargah Sharif, Ajmer. His tomb is one of the most important religious sites in Sufism.