Volume One
O friends! Listen to this story. In truth, it is our state today.
Once upon a time, there was a sultan who ruled over both the world and the kingdom of religion. One day, while hunting with his attendants, he saw a retinue on the main road and became enthralled by one of its slave girls. The free bird began to flutter in its cage. He bought her from the retinue, fulfilling his desire. But then, she fell ill.
One man had an ass but no frame for it; he acquired a frame, and then the ass was carried off by wolves! Another man had an ewer, but could not obtain water; when he found water, the ewer broke!
The sultan gathered physicians from east and west. He said, “Both of our lives are in your hands. My life is nothing; my beloved is her life to me. I am distressed and ill, and she is my cure. Whoever cures my beloved will have my treasure, jewels, and coral (my gifts).”
They all said together, “We sacrifice ourselves! Let us think and treat together. Each of us is a Messiah of a world; each of us has a medicine for every illness.”
They did not say, “If Allah wills,” and Allah showed them the impotence of humankind. My purpose in saying that they omitted the words