To ensure eternal good one should be eternally grateful. Story Six by Queen Shaharad
The King and the Sage by Queen Shahrazad
WORDLY WEALTH
Long ago in Persia, King Yunan ruled the land. He had great treasure and a great army of valiant soldiers.
WEALTH IS HEALTH
Our king was suffering from leprosy and no physician, no sage and no potion, power or ointment had worked the magic.
EXTERNAL HELP
One day a great old sage, the sage Duban arrived in the capital. He knew ancient Greek, Persian, modern Greek, Arabic, and Syrian books, and medicine and astrology. He was well versed in the wisdom of the philosophers, and all of the medical and other sciences.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT
On learning about the King, the sage put on his finest clothes and presented himself before the King. He greeted the King in the best possible manner. He told the King that he could cure the King without giving him any potion or ointment. The King wondered how he would do this.
POWERFUL PROMISE
The King responded: “By Allah, if you cure me, I will enrich you and your children’s children. I will heap upon you whatever you desire. You shall also be my companion and my friend.”
The King then gave him a robe of honour and other presents and continued: “Will you cure me of this disease without potion or ointment?”
The sage replied he will do this.
An extremely amazed King said: “On what day and at what time will this happen?”
The sage then left the King and hired a house where he put all his books, medicine and drugs.
PALATABLE PACKAGES
Our sage selected medicines and drugs. He made a goff-stick.
What is a goff-stick? It was similar to the first golf club, but the handle was hollow and he inserted the medicine there. He paired the stick with a ball and took it to the King. He directed the King to go to the horse course and play with the ball and stick. The sage told him to ride along the horse course and strike the ball with all his force until the hand’s palm and the body become drenched in perspiration. Afterwards he was told to return to the palace, have a bath, then go to sleep.
MIRACLE CURE
Our King Yunan did this exactly and when he awoke the next day and looked at his skin – it was as if he had never had leprosy. This was one happy King who lavished great wealth on the sage – two thousand pieces of gold, robes and his own horse.
The King was astonished at the sage’s skill and proceeded to lavish more gold and clothes upon him.
EVIL EYE OF ENVY
A Wezir (Vizier) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in an Islamic government. One Wezir became so envious at the closeness of the King and the sage that he had evil thoughts and intentions. The Wezir was the living example of the adages: There is no one void of envy, and Tyranny lurks in the soul, power manifests it and weakness conceals it.
EVIL APPROACH
The envious Wezir approached the King to give him an important piece of advice. The Wezir opined that the sage was really the King’s enemy. The King would have none of this and believed that the Wezir was acting out of envy.
GIFTS OF GRATITUDE
Instead the King bestowed further honours on the sage. The King felt that if he gave the sage a portion of his kingdom that would be a small thing for the cure that no physician was able to achieve. From East to West in the whole wide world there was no one like him. The King doubted the Wezir’s motives and felt that he was speaking with envy.
THE NEXT STORY – to be continued.
The King stated: If I did what you desired, I would regret it just as the man who killed his parrot did … (that’s the next story).
THE GREATEST MORAL (LESSON) OF THIS STORY
The King was healed of a disease that no other physician could cure. He was grateful and we should always have loyalty and gratefulness for the people who help us. In fact, we should be permanently grateful when someone helps us. Gratefulness is an Islamic value and a universal value.
- Duban is one of the most extraordinarily talented characters of the One Thousand and One Nights.
- Duban is one of the most extraordinarily talented characters of the One Thousand and One Nights.
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