Sa'adi has written:
A Sufi dervish had also joined us - he hadn't a single coin with him, nor anything else for that matter. We were all on camels, but he traveled on foot.
Nevertheless, his joy knew no limits and he went on saying: "I am not a load on any camel - nor is any camel a load on me. I am neither anyone's master, nor anyone's slave. I have no worries of the past, no worries of the future. The present is enough for me. My life is just moment to moment. Fully I breathe - fully I live life."
But the most worried among us, a businessman, advised him to return. He explained the difficulties ahead. He related his experiences of journeys in the past.
And when the dervish didn't listen to him he said, "by your own choice you are going into the mouth of death with little food and the exhaustion of traveling on foot, you are certainly going to die."
But the fakir just went on Laughing - he kept on singing his song and moving ahead. Every day the journey became more difficult. All our faces were filled with lines of worry and despair. The businessman had gone almost completely insane.
But the fakir went on laughing and singing: "Fully I breathe - fully I live life."
And then each and every step of the journey became impossible. The words of that experienced traveler began to seem right to us all. The journey became a total nightmare. But the fakir went on singing his songs. The radiance of his face increased with each difficulty. In his eyes, flowers of an unearthly joy seemed to blossom. And one day the businessman died from these extreme hardships.
And the dervish standing near the dead body of the businessman said: "Beloved! I have not died from the hardships of foot travel - and you have died riding comfortably on a camel? Fools burn lamps during the day, and at night they wonder why they have no light!"
A Sufi dervish had also joined us - he hadn't a single coin with him, nor anything else for that matter. We were all on camels, but he traveled on foot.
Nevertheless, his joy knew no limits and he went on saying: "I am not a load on any camel - nor is any camel a load on me. I am neither anyone's master, nor anyone's slave. I have no worries of the past, no worries of the future. The present is enough for me. My life is just moment to moment. Fully I breathe - fully I live life."
But the most worried among us, a businessman, advised him to return. He explained the difficulties ahead. He related his experiences of journeys in the past.
And when the dervish didn't listen to him he said, "by your own choice you are going into the mouth of death with little food and the exhaustion of traveling on foot, you are certainly going to die."
But the fakir just went on Laughing - he kept on singing his song and moving ahead. Every day the journey became more difficult. All our faces were filled with lines of worry and despair. The businessman had gone almost completely insane.
But the fakir went on laughing and singing: "Fully I breathe - fully I live life."
And then each and every step of the journey became impossible. The words of that experienced traveler began to seem right to us all. The journey became a total nightmare. But the fakir went on singing his songs. The radiance of his face increased with each difficulty. In his eyes, flowers of an unearthly joy seemed to blossom. And one day the businessman died from these extreme hardships.
And the dervish standing near the dead body of the businessman said: "Beloved! I have not died from the hardships of foot travel - and you have died riding comfortably on a camel? Fools burn lamps during the day, and at night they wonder why they have no light!"
We were on a long journey. The route was rarely traveled and filled with innumerable troubles.
