by T.L. James of MarsBlog. Part of our weekly Sufi Wisdom series. As terrorist Islam does its best to discredit the religion, it is important to remember that there are other voices within the faith. One such is the Sufis, a branch of Islamic mystics with roots in many religious traditions. The lessons of Sufism are often communicated through humorous stories and mystical or romantic poetry.
This week's wisdom is a tale from Sa'adi of Shiraz, on drawing the wrong conclusions:
A fox who lived in the deep forest of long ago had lost its front legs. No one knew how: perhaps escaping from a trap. A man who lived on the edge of the forest , seeing the fox from time to time, wondered how in the world it managed to get its food. One day when the fox was not far from him he had to hide himself quickly because a tiger was approaching. The tiger had fresh game in its claws. Lying down on the ground, it ate its fill, leaving the rest for the fox.
Again the next day the great Provider of this world sent provisions to the fox by this same tiger. The man began to think: "If this fox is taken care of in this mysterious way, its food sent by some unseen Higher Power, why don't I just rest in a corner and have my daily meal provided for me?"
Because he had a lot of faith, he let the days pass, waiting for food. Nothing happened. He just went on losing weight and strength until he was nearly a skeleton. Close to losing consciousness, he heard a Voice which said: "O you, who have mistaken the way, see now the Truth! You should have followed the example of that tiger instead of imitating the disabled fox."
Hmmmm?
Perhaps celebrating the good of doing the best we can with the resources that we have been granted? The Man has squandered his talents and abilities, and so suffers.
The Fox is crafty, and even when he has lost the ability to hunt, can survive by staying close to the Tiger. This is not easy, as the Tiger could be considered a natural enemy. The Fox does not expect sustinence, but knows he can manage to find it.
The Tiger is powerful and can easily subsist off prey in the forest. However, he does not begrudge the fox in his very real struggle for survival, and leaves something behind that will sustain him. The Tiger knows he can find sustinence, but does not covet something he does not need.
The man, on the other hand, has squandered his talents and abilities. He does not even try to seek out sources of sustinence. If he were to suddenly receive a miraculous gift that do much more than sustain him, he would likely hoard it and allow it to spoil, rather than share it with another who was also needy.
But I could be completely wrong about this... Sufi wisdom is so deep, and I am such a poor student, that I quite often get it all wrong.
And I'm sure the basic message could be put into much simpler terms.
Just my $.02
DRK
When all you have is less than you require charity is not expected. (the fox)
When all you have is more than you require charity is a gift. (the tiger)
When all you have is what you require charity is a fantasy.
A similar sentiment is expressed in the aphorism: "Trust in G-d, but tie your camel." The means by which a higher power acts in the world may just be your own hands.
On one level the story concerns the nature of things...each player in the story is what he is, and not something else. The fox and tiger are behaving according to their respective natures, but the man thinks he can behave like the fox and reap the same "reward". He doesn't acknowledge that, being a man, he has different endowments and abilities -- he does not have the claws of the tiger for catching game, but neither does he have the handicap of the fox -- which allow and in fact require him to interact with others on wholly different terms. And reality catches up with him in the end.
Or, perhaps:
God helps most those who help themselves.
DRK
http://www.secularhumanism.org/fi/index.htm