Points to Ponder — Page 53
— 53 wheel cannot fit in your hand then what can I do? My knowledge is accurate. ” I have related a joke many a time on the same lines, which I have heard from Maul ā n ā Nūr ud-D īn. The elders of a village sent a boy to learn medicine in some other land because there was no physician in the village. They thought that when the boy returns after learning, their needs will be met, and the day-to-day inconvenience they had for the lack of a physician will go away. The boy reached a renowned physician in another part and said , “T he elders of my area have sent me to learn medicine because we do not have a physician. ” The physician said, “That is commendable. What can be better than service with medicine as one gets to serve the community, and people also benefit. This task is of great blessing. Stay with me and I will teach you everything about medicine. ” The boy took residence with him. The very next day, the physician went to see a patient. He took the boy with him. When they arrived at the patient’s house, they sat down. The physician checked patient’s pulse, asked about his condition and in the course of the conversation, asked, “Did you, per chance, eat garbanzos yesterday?” The patient replied, “ Yes, I ate some garbanzos. ” The physician said, “Your stomach is weak; you cannot digest such hard food. This is the cause of your stomachache; you should not eat such thin gs. ” Then the physician wrote the patient a prescription and they came home.