52. The Dervish and the Rich Man


A dervish invited a rich man to break the fast, offering him only dry bread.
The rich man later sent the dervish a purse containing a thousand gold coins. 
The dervish returned the purse with a note: "Bread is useful; gold is not — you only imagine it is."
The dervish then sent a beggar to the rich man's house. 
The beggar returned and said, "He gave me nothing."
"Such foolishness!" said the dervish. "People think bread is equal to gold and try to exchange one for the other. Then, when a needy person asks for help, they don't help."



Inspired byThe Dermis Probe by Idries Shah, free to read online at the Idries Shah Foundation.
Notes: This is on p. 17 in the book.




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