A part of the story ---- The parable that follows was originally composed by the greatest of all Sufi poets, Jalal ad-Din Rumi (d. 1273) and recounted by Idries Shah, the Grand Shaykh of Sadarna. A Persian, a Turk, and Arab and a Greek had traveling together for a long time and had spent almost all their money. The had not eaten for some time when they came to a small village; and, there they began to argue over how to spend the single coin they possessed among themselves. All four craved food, but the Persian wanted to spend the coin on angur; the Turk, on uzum; the Arab, on inab; and the Greek, on stafil. The argument became heated as each man insisted on having what he desired. A passerby who happened to speak all their languages overheard the quarrel. “Give the coin to me,” he said. “I undertake to satisfy the desires of all of you.” Taking the coin, the passerby went to a nearby shop and bought a bunch of grapes. He then returned to the men and gave them the grapes. “This is my angur!” cried the Persian. “But this is what I call uzum,” replied the Turk. “You have bought me my inab,” the Arab said. “No! This in my language is stafil.” All of a sudden, the men realized that what each of them had desired was in fact the same thing, only they did not know how to express themselves to each other. The four travelers represent humanity in its search for an inner spiritual need it cannot define and which it expresses in different ways. The passerby is the Sufi, who enlightens humanity to the fact that what it seeks (its religions), though called by different names, are in reality one identical thing. However — and this is the most important aspect of the parable — the passerby can offer the travelers only the grapes and nothing more.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 15:29:45 +0000
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