A dervish lived alone in the wilderness, eating only fruit that God made fall from the fruit-trees.
One day, though, this dervish succumbed to temptation: he reached up and plucked a fruit.
Punishment came swiftly: bandits hid in this wilderness, and the dervish was arrested with them. The governor commanded, "Amputate the right hand of each bandit!"
The dervish did not complain; he knew this was God's punishment.
But then God made a miracle: when the dervish was alone in his hut and no one could see, God restored his hand so that he could weave baskets using both hands.
Inspired by: The English prose version of Rumi in Tales from the Masnavi by A. J. Arberry.
Notes: This is story 78 in the book. The story goes on to explain that someone does happen to see the miracle of the dervish weaving with two hands, and the dervish realizes that God wants to make the miracle known as a lesson to others. Arberry notes the name Abul-Khair al-Aqta ("the Maimed") al-Tinati.
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