A Sufi once annoyed the scholars of a certain country
so much that they vied with one another in trying
to discredit him. One scholar spoke slightingly of
his ancestry; another of the quality of his writings;
a third of the frequency of his utterances; a fourth
of his silences; a fifth of his associates. In short, you will see
that they treated him in the manner traditional in such circles.
In spite of this campaign, students continued to listen to the
Sufi. Their questions caused their teachers continued concern.
So the scholars changed their tactics.
Some of them went to the King of their country.
They said:
'Sire, such-and-such a Sufi is corrupting the minds of your
Majesty's subjects. We urge you to do something about him
before your own position is threatened.'
The King was perplexed. 'Surely,' he said, 'you wise men can
encompass his downfall, for you are, as I have frequently seen,
adept at such activities.'
'We have tried, Majesty,' they said, 'but he seems to care
nothing for his name, and the consequence is that people are
denying the real value of repute itself.' 'Do you suggest that I
kill this man and make him a martyr?' asked the King.
'No, indeed that would be the last thing that we should do,'
said the scholars.
'Since scholars are the advisers of kings in this country,' said
the King (who was aware that he should keep on the right side
of these venerable beasts for his own safety), 'advise me, and Copyright © The Estate of Idries Shah
I will at once put any suitable stratagem into action.'
'What must be done is to demonstrate the foolish- ness of
the man, so that people will not want to copy him,' said the
most cunning of the scholars.
'How can I do that?' said the King.
'Challenge him with an impossible task,' said the scholar. He
provided a suggestion to verify the Sufi claim 'to transcend
ordinary limitations'.
And so it was that the Sufi, passing the palace one day, heard
a herald announce:
'His Majesty has been pleased to declare that he is prepared
to adopt the ways of the Sufi, providing that any Sufi can endure
physical hardships that no scholar would accept.'
The Sufi presented himself to the King, who said: 'Sufi, a
gnat's weight of demonstration is worth an elephant-load of
reputation. Will you take my test?' 'I will,' said the Sufi.
'It is midwinter,' said the King, 'and the nights in the open are
unbearably freezing. I propose to leave you, without any clothes
or covering, on the roof of the citadel for a whole night. If you
are alive in the morning, and not even frostbitten, I will accept
that you have abilities which scholars lack.'
The Sufi accepted the challenge without hesitation.
In the morning an immense crowd had collected to see
whether the Sufi had survived. As dawn broke they saw that
he was not only alive but covered with sweat, rolling a huge
boulder, which he had dislodged from the battlements, from
one end of the flat roof to another.
As the Sufi was brought down by the guards, the people
cheered him to the echo.
'I have created a hero, and you have made me look a fool, you
marvellous scholars,' screamed the King to his advisers. 'If I
had left him alone there would have been at least a possibility
that his ways would not have undermined my throne. Now
it looks as if I will have to carry out a sustained campaign to
show the people that I am after all intelligent or worthwhile,
or something.' And he sat there listening to the cheers of the
crowd, biting his nails.Copyright © The Estate of Idries Shah
The Sufi appeared and said:
'Your Majesty, come with me to the battlements.'
The King dolefully followed the Sufi to where the populace
could see and hear them.
The Sufi said:
'Good people, look upon your wonderful and intelligent King.
In order to illustrate to the whole world that scholars who were
intriguing for position are limited to literalism, he put me to a
test which was really a test of them. I was asked to survive a
winter's night on the citadel to prove my Sufihood. But, since
scholars are capable only of mental gymnastics, the only
answer all would understand was by means of gymnastics.'
When they were alone again, the King said to the Sufi:
'Why should you protect me, when I was trying to disgrace
you?'
'Because you, your Majesty,' said the Sufi, 'were not really
trying to do anything at all, including disgracing me. You were
being manipulated by your advisers. If I had caused you to be
disgraced, you would not have been a king any more. Now,
a king who has learnt a lesson is surely more useful than a
beggar who was once a king.'
'But you told a lie when you said that I was trying to expose
the scholars,' said the King.
'I was telling the truth, but I was telling it ahead of the time
when it was to take place,' said the Sufi; 'because from now
on, there can be no doubt, your Majesty will indeed try to
preserve our society against such people; and one method
which you will undoubtedly employ is that of: "A gnat's weight
of demonstration is worth an elephant-load of reputation".'