Pleasant Stories & Anecdotes — Page 41
Pleasant Anecdotes—Three Pilgrimages 41 you were engaged in your arrangements, I did not burn your house down. For what if I had set fire to your property, then what?’ (Malf ūzā t, vol. 1, p. 179) Three Pilgrimages I remember a story of a worldly man who invited a holy man. When the holy man arrived for food, the host, who was an arro- gant man of a worldly bent, said to his servant: ‘Bring such and such tray, which I brought back from my first Hajj. ’ Then he said: ‘Bring the second tray as well, which I brought from my second Hajj. ’ Then he proceeded to say: ‘Bring the one from the third Hajj as well. ’ The holy man said: ‘You are deserving of immense pity. In these three sentences, you have ruined your three pilgrimages. Your only purpose in making these statements was to show that you have gone to pilgrimage three times. ’ Therefore, God has taught that a person ought to control his tongue, and abstain from making useless, absurd, inappropriate, needless comments. (Malfū z āt, vol. 1, p. 422)