The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin -Idries Shah

I was thinking since we don’t have many storytellers anymore- those that would scare the beegeebies out of you, make you laugh until you peed on yourself, or left with you with a thought that at times changed your whole life.  And because storytellers like Idries Shah are no longer with us to regale us with parables, stories, rhymes, jokes and all other manner of ways to reach a better understanding of Allah SWT; I will every day, Insha’ Allah post in the order the book was published all those stories…And since it is all his credit (Shah) all I can say that the errors therein are my lack of typing coordination, meds and other nefarious workings of my illness  condition! LOL

You are most welcomed to comment on them- in fact I hope you do comment on them and what they mean to you in particular and what they mean to Muslim Society today… or not.

So I am actually repeating this on the regular daily posts…and will be reprinted here so we can keep a full compendium…

so here goes:

The Reason

 The Mulla went to see a rich man.

“Give me some money.”

“Why?”

“I want to buy … an elephant.”

“If you have no money, you can’t afford to keep an elephant.”

“I came here,” said Nasrudin, “to get money, not advice.”

 

Eating His Money

 

Mulla Nasrudin, as everyone knows, comes from a country where fruit is fruit, and meat is meat, and curry is never eaten.

 

One day he was plodding along a dusty Indian road, having newly descended from the high mountains of Kafisistan, when a great thirst overtook him. “Soon,” he said to himself, “I must come across somewhere that good fruit is to be had.”

 

No sooner were the words formed in his brain than he rounded a corner and saw sitting in the shade of a tree a benevolent-looking man, with a basket in front of him.

 

Piled high in the basket were huge, shiny red fruits. “This is what I need,” said Nasrudin. Taking two tiny coppers from the knot at the end of his turban, he handed them to the fruit-seller.

 

Without a word the man handed him the whole basket, for this kind of fruit is cheap in India, and people usually buy it in smaller amounts.

 

Nasrudin sat down in the place vacated by the fruitier, and started to munch on the fruits. Within seconds, his mouth was burning. Tears streamed down his cheeks, fire was in his throat. The Mulla went on eating.

 

An hour or two passed, and then an Afghan Hillman came past. Nasrudin hailed him. “Brother, these infidel fruits must come [from] the very mouth of Sheitan!”

“Fool!” said the Hillman. “Hast thou never heard of chilies of Hindustan? Stop eating them at once or death will surely claim a victim before the sun is down.”

 

“I cannot move from here,” gasped the Mulla, “until I have finished the whole basketful.”

 

“Madman! Those fruits belong in curry! Throw them away at once.”

 

“I am not eating fruit any more,” croaked Nasrudin, “I am easting my money.”

 

 

The Use of Light

 

“I can see in the dark,” boasted Nasrudin one day in the teahouse.

 

“If that is so, why do we sometimes see you carrying a light through the streets?”

 

“Only to prevent other people from colliding with me.”

 

Why Don’t You?

 Nasrudin went to a shop a man who stocked all kinds of bit and pieces.

“Have you got nails?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And leather, good leather?”

“Yes.”

“And dye?”

“Yes.”

“Then why, for Heaven’s sake, don’t you make a pair of boots?”

 

Prudence

 

The Mulla was invited to a wedding feast. The last time he had been to that house, someone had carried off his sandals. Now, instead of leaving them at the door, he stuffed them into the inner pocket of his coat.

“What book is that in your pocket?” his host asked him.

“He may be after my shoes,” thought Nasrudin; “besides- I have a reputation as a learned man to keep up.” Aloud he said:

“The subject of the bulge which you see is “Prudence.”

“How interesting! Which bookshop did you get it from?”

“As a matter of fact, I got if from a shoemaker.”

 

Assumptions

 

“What is the meaning of fate, Mulla?”

“Assumption.”

“In what way?”

“You assume things are going to go well, and they don’t-that you call bad luck. You assume things are going to go badly and they don’t-that you call good luck. You assume that certain things are going to happen or not happen-and you so lack intuition that you don’t know what is going to happen. You assume that the future is unknown.

“When you are caught out-you call that Fate.”