10 Sufi Stories

Posted by Sofo
The wisdom of Sufism is unbounded. Sufi Masters have been using short
stories to teach people important life lessons. In just a few paragraphs,
the Sufis are able to convey messages that others can hardly do in
hundreds of pages.
Here are some of my favorite Sufi stories:
The Fruit of Heaven
There was once a woman who had heard of the Fruit of Heaven. She
coveted it.
She asked a certain dervish, whom we shall call Sabar: How can I find
this fruit, so that I may attain to immediate knowledge?
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You would best be advised to study with me, said the dervish. But if you
will not do so, you will have to travel resolutely and at times restlessly
throughout the world.
She left him and sought another, Arif the Wise One, and then found
Hakim, the Sage, then Majzup the Mad, then Alim the Scientist, and
many more
She passed thirty years in her search. Finally she came to a garden. There
stood the Tree of Heaven, and from its branches hung the bright Fruit of
Heaven. Standing beside the Tree was Sabar, the First Dervish.
Why did you no tell me when we first met that you were the Custodian of
the Fruit of Heaven? she asked him.
Because you would not then have believed me. Besides, the Tree
produces fruit only once in thirty years and thirty days.
Change the World
Bayazid, a Sufi mystic, has written in his autobiography, When I was
young I thought and I said to God, and in all my prayers this was the
base: Give me energy so that I can change the whole world. Everybody
looked wrong to me. I was a revolutionary and I wanted to change the
face of the earth.
When I became a little more mature I started praying: This seems to be
too much. Life is going out of my handsalmost half of my life is gone
and I have not changed a single person, and the whole world is too
much. So I said to God, My family will be enough. Let me change my
family.
And when I became old, says Bayazid, I realized that even the family is
too much, and who am I to change them? Then I realized that if I can
change myself that will be enough, more than enough. I prayed to God,
Now I have come to the right point. At least allow me to do this: I would
like to change myself.

God replied, Now there is no time left. This you should have asked in
the beginning. Then there was a possibility.
The Sun and the Cave
One day the sun and a cave struck up a conversation. The sun had trouble
understanding what dark and dank meant and the cave didnt quite
get the hang of light and clear so they decided to change places. The
cave went up to the sun and said, Ah, I see, this is beyond wonderful.
Now come down and see where I have been living. The sun went down
to the cave and said, Gee, I dont see any difference.
The Dream
A visitor came to a Chishti pir. This visitor wanted to demonstrate his
own knowledge of the Quran and intended to overpower the Chishti pir
in a debate. When he entered, the Chishti pir took the initiative however
and mentioned Yusuf and the dreams he has had according to the
Quran. He then suddenly turned to his visitor and asked him if he could
tell him about a dream, so that the visitor may give his interpretation
thereof. After receiving permission the Sufi told that he has had a dream
and both of them were in it. The Chishti pir then went on by describing
the following dream event: I saw your hand immersed in a jar of honey,
while my hand was immersed in the latrine.
The visitor hastened to interpret: It is quite obvious! You are immersed
in wrong pursuits whereas I am leading a righteous life.
But, the Sufi said, there is more to the dream. The visitor asked him to
continue. The Chishti pir then went on by telling this: You were licking
my hand and I was licking yours.
Identification is Misery
Junaid was going through the market-place of the town with his
disciples. And it was his way to take any situation and use it. A man was
dragging his cow by a rope, and Junaid said Wait to the man, and told
his disciples Surround this man and the cow. I am going to teach you
something.

The man stopped Junaid was a famous mystic and he was also
interested in what he was going to teach these disciples and how he was
going to use him and the cow. And Junaid asked his disciples I ask you
one thing: who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is this
man bound to this cow? Of course, the disciples said The cow is bound
to the man. The man is the master, he is holding the rope, the cow has to
follow him wherever he goes. He is the master and the cow is the slave.
And Junaid said Now, see. He took out his scissors and cut the rope
and the cow escaped.
The man ran after the cow, and Junaid said Now look what is happening!
Now you see who is the master; the cow is not interested at all in this
man in fact, she is escaping. And the man was very angry, he said
What kind of experiment is this? But Junaid said to his disciples And
this is the case with your mind.
All the nonsense that you are carrying inside is not interested in you. You
are interested in it, you are keeping it together somehow you are
becoming mad in keeping it together somehow. But you are interested IN
it. The moment you lose interest, the moment you understand the futility
of it, it will start disappearing; like the cow it will escape.
The Path Towards God is Inwards
A man has purchased a cow, and he was not accustomed to dealing with
cows. So he was trying to drag the cow along holding the cows horns,
and the cow was very resistant obviously, this man was new. She
wanted to go to her home, she wanted to go to her old owner.
A Sufi mystic was watching. He said to the man, It seems you are very
new; you dont know how to deal with cows. This is not the right way.
The man said, What should I do, because I am not that strong. The cow
is stronger; she is dragging me with her.
The mystic gave him some beautiful green grass, and told him, Leave
her horns. You take this grass and just move ahead of her. Keep the grass

very close, but dont allow her to eat it. As she moves towards the grass,
you go on moving towards your home. And it worked.
The cow came because the grass was so close and so green and so fresh.
She forgot all about the owner; the immediate problem was how to get
this grass. And it is so close, just hanging in front of your eyes. But the
man went on moving slowly, the distance between the cow and the grass
remained the same. And she entered into the house of the new owner,
and he closed the door.
Religions have been hanging carrots in front of you. Those hopes are
never fulfilled, they are hopeless, those promises are empty.
There is No Goal
There is a story told by Sufis about a man who read that certain
dervishes, on the orders of their Master, never touched meat and did not
smoke. Since this tends to fit in with certain well-established beliefs,
especially in the West, this man made his way to the ZAWIA assembly
place of the illuminated ones, to sit at their feet. They were all over
ninety years old.
Sure enough, there they were, not a spot of nicotine or shred of animal
protein among them, and our hero gasped with delight as he sat drinking
in the unpolluted air and tasting the bean-curd soup which they
provided. He hoped that he would at least live to a hundred.
Suddenly one of them whispered, Here comes the great Master! And all
stood up as the venerable sage came in. He smiled benignly and went
into the house, heading for his quarters. He did not look a day over fifty.
How old is he, and what does he eat? asked the enraptured visitor.
He is one hundred and fifty years old, and I dont suppose any of us will
reach that venerable age and station, wheezed one of the ancients. But,
of course, he is allowed twenty cigars and three steaks a day, since he is
now beyond being affected by frivolities and temptations!
A Heap of Skulls

There is a story about Bayazid, a Sufi mystic. He was passing through a

cemetery and he came upon a heap of skulls. Out of curiosity he took one
skull. He had always been of the thought that all skulls are almost the
same, but they were not the same. There were a few skulls whose ears
were joined together; there was a passage. There were a few skulls whose
ears were not joined together; there was a barrier between the two. There
were a few skulls both of whose ears were joined to the heart but not
joined together; there was a passage running to the heart.
He was very surprised. He prayed and asked God, What is the matter?
What are you trying to reveal to me? And it is said that he heard a voice.
God said, There are three types of people: one, who hear through one
ear; it never reaches anywhere in fact they dont hear, just the sound
vibrates and disappears. There is another type, who hear, but only
momentarily they hear through one ear, and through the other ear it is
lost into the world again. There are a few souls, of course, who hear
through the ears and it reaches to the heart.
And God said, Bayazid, I have brought you to this heap of skulls just to
help you remember it when you are talking to people. Talk only to those
who take whatsoever you say to their hearts otherwise dont waste your
energy, and dont waste your time. Your life is precious: you have a
message to deliver.
One day I also understood not by going to a cemetery and coming
across a heap, but by looking into alive people. There are three types;
Bayazid is right. The story may be true or not; that is irrelevant. I looked
into thousands of people, and I found that only a very few are there who
will take the seed to the heart, who will become soil to it, who will absorb
it. And others are just curiosity-mongers, just entertaining themselves.
Maybe the entertainment is religious, but it is meaningless.
So here I dont exist for the masses. Let it be known once and forever: I
am not interested in the crowd, I am interested only in individuals. And
you have to show your mettle.
The Banquet
A poor man dressed in rags came to the palace to attend the banquet. Out
of courtesy he was admitted but, because of his tattered clothing, he was

seated at the very end of the banquet table. By the time the platters
arrived at his seat, there was no food left on them.
So he left the banquet, returning several hours later dressed in robes and
jewels he had borrowed from a wealthy friend. This time he was brought
immediately to the head of the table and, with great ceremony, food was
brought to his seat first.
Oh, what delicious food I see being served upon my plate. He rubbed
one spoonful into his clothes for every one he ate.
A nobleman beside him, grimacing at the mess, inquired, Sir, why are
you rubbing food into your fine clothes?
Oh, he replied with a chuckle, Pardon me if my robes now look the
worst. But it was these clothes that brought me all this food. Its only fair
that they be fed first!
We Are Already God
Rabiya, a great Sufi mystic, was passing. It was the street she used to
pass every day on her way to the marketplace, because in the marketplace
she would go every day and shout the truth that she had attained. And for
many days she had been watching a mystic, a well-known mystic,
Hassan, sitting before the door of the mosque and praying to God, God,
open the door! Please open the door! Let me in!
Rabiya could not tolerate it that day. Hassan was crying, tears were
rolling down, and he was shouting again and again, Open the door! Let
me in! Why dont you listen? Why dont you hear my prayers?
Every day she had laughed, whenever she had heard Hassan she had
laughed, but it was too much today. Tearsand Hassan was really crying,
weeping, crying his heart out. She went, she shook Hassan, and said,
Stop all this nonsense! The door is open in fact you are already in!
Hassan looked at Rabiya, and that moment became a moment of
revelation. Looking into the eyes of Rabiya, he bowed down, touched her
feet, and said, You came in time; otherwise I would have called my

whole life! For years I have been doing this where have you been
before? And I know you pass this street every day. You must have seen
me crying, praying.
Rabiya said, Yes, but truth can only be said at a certain moment, in a
certain space, in a certain context. I was waiting for the right, ripe
moment. Today it has arrived; hence I came close to you. Yesterday if I
had told you, you would have felt irritated; you may have even become
angry. You may have reacted antagonistically; you may have told me,
You have disturbed my prayer! and it is not right to disturb anybodys
prayer.
Even the king is not allowed to disturb the prayer of a beggar. Even if a
criminal, a murderer, is praying in Mohammedan countries, the police
have to wait till he finishes his prayer, only then can he be caught. Prayer
should not be disturbed.
Rabiya said, I had wanted to tell you this, that Hassan, dont be a fool,
the door is open in fact, you are already in! But I had to wait for the
right moment.
Sources:
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Unknown
Hsin Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing, by Osho
Unknown
Unknown
The Sun Rises in the Evening, by Osho
God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth, by Osho
Be Still and Know, by Osho
The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol. 4, by Osho
Unknown
The Dhammapada, Vol 1, by Osho