Jun 01, 2007 12:15
As salamu alaikum,
The following was taken from 'The Holy Cat: Sufi and Other Stories' by M. Yawar Baig.
A fisherman was lying on the sea shore, dozing away a lazy afternoon, in the shade of his boat. A management consultant who was on holiday in that seaside resort happened to come by and called out to the fisherman and said,
"Hey man, why don't you do something with your life instead of simply wasting it away in sleep?"
The fisherman got up, lit his pipe and settled down to a discussion with the visitor.
"What do you want me to do? he asked.
"Go and catch more fish," said the consultant.
"For what?" asked the fisherman.
"So that you can make more money".
"For what?"
"You can then buy another boat and employ some more fishermen and catch many more fish than you do now."
"For what?"
"So that you can make even more money".
"For what?"
"So that eventually, after a life spent working hard and after making a great deal of money, you can sit back and relax", said the consultant.
"But I am relaxing right now!" said the fisherman, with a smile on his face.
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"All that you need from the world is something lawful to satisfy your hunger, something with which to cover yourself, and a roof over your head. Let these be the only things that you ask from this world, nothing more. Don't be envious of the apparent abundance the world-bound seem to enjoy, nor wish for the riches they have gathered without any consideration of right and wrong, of lawful or unlawful. How long does one stay in the world?" (Ibn Al-Arabi)