| Rumi; ……. To illustrate this an anecdote is told of a man of Baghdad who was in great distress, and who, after calling for aid, dreamt that a great treasure lay hidden in a certain spot in Egypt. He accordingly journeyed to Egypt and there he fell into the hands of patrol, who arrested him, and beat him severely on suspicion of being a thief. Calling to mind the proverb “falsehood is mischief but truth a remedy”, he determined to confess the true reason of his coming to Egypt, and accordingly told them all the particulars of his dream. On hearing them they believed him, and one of them said, “You must be a fool to journey all the distance merely on the faith of a dream. I myself have many times dreamt of a treasure lying hid in a certain spot in Baghdad, but was never foolish enough to go there. “Now the spot in Baghdad named by this person was none other than the house of the poor man of Baghdad, and he straight away returned home and there he found the treasure. And he gave thanks…… ------ (Book Six of) " Masnavi " by Jallaludin Rumi(CE1207 –CE1273), (Translated by E.H.Whinfield, M.A) Paulo; …… The boy fell to the sand, nearly unconscious. The leader shook him and said, “We are leaving”. But before they left, he came back and said, you’re not going to die. You’ll live, and you will learn that a man should not be so stupid. Two years ago, right here on this spot, I had a recurrent dream too. I dreamed that I should travel to the fields of Spain and look for a ruined church where shepherds and there sheep slept. In my dream, there was a sycamore growing out of the ruins of the sacristy, and I was told that, if I dug at the roots of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure. But I’m not stupid as tocross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream”. And they disappeared. The boy stood up shakily, and looked once more at the Pyramids. They seemed to laugh at him, and he laughed back, his heart bursting with joy. Because now he knew where his treasure was...... ----------- (Page 155), "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, 1988 (Harper Collins) |
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AuthorI am Indiran, an Engineer with 26 years experience in Construction and Project Management. More about me in http://kolappanindiran.weebly.com/ Archives
February 2015
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