Ancient Wisdom

Although he was supposed to be a wise and holy man, Nasrudin was accused of being almost illiterate. One day the ruler of his country decided to put this to the test. 'Write something for me, Nasrudin , 'said he. 'I would willingly do so, but I have taken an oath never to write so much as a single letter again,' said Nasrudin . 'Well, write something in the way in which you used to write before you decided not to write, so that I can see what it was like.' 'I cannot do that, because every time you write something your writing changes slightly through practices. If I wrote now, it would be something written for now.' 'Then bring me an example of his writing, anyone who has one,' ordered the ruler. Someone brought a terrible scrawl that the Mulla had once written to him. 'Is this your writings?'asked the Monarch. 'No,' said Nasrudin. 'Not only does writing change with time, but you are now showing a piece of writing done by me

Orpheus having his beloved wife snatched from him by sudden death, resolved upon descending to the infernal regions, to try if, by the power of his harp, he could re-obtain her. And in effect, he so appeased and soothed the infernal powers by the melody and sweetness of his harp and voice, that they indulged him the liberty of taking her back; on condition that she should follow him behind, and he not turn to look upon her till they came into open day. But he, through the impatience of his care and affection, and thinking himself almost past danger, at length looked him; whereby the condition was violated, and she again precipitated to Pluto's regions. From this time Orpheus grew pensive and sad, a hater of the sex, and went into solitude; where, by the same sweetness of his harp and voice, he first drew the wild beasts fo all sorts about him; so that, forgetting their natures, they were neither actuated by revenge, cruelty, lust, hunger, or the desire of prey; but stood gazing abo

Confucius said, "At fifteen I began to be seriously interested in study.  At thirty I had formed my character. At forty I had no more perplexities. At fifty I knew the will of heaven. At sixty nothing that I heard disturbed me. At seventy I could let my thoughts wander without trespassing the moral law."

  He who by Tao purposes to help the ruler of men Will oppose all conquest by force of arm. For such things are wont to be rebound. Where armies are, thorns and brambles grow, The rising of a great host Is followed by a year of dearth. Therefore a good general effects his purpose and stops.     He dares not rely upon the strength of arms; Effects his purpose and does not glory in it; Effects his purpose and does not boast of it; Effects his purpose and does not take pride in it;     Effects his purpose as a regrettable necessity;     Effects his purpose but does not love violence. (For) things age after reaching their prime. That (violence) would be against the Tao. And he who is against the Tao perishes young.

  Once upon a time, two mules were making their way along a dusty path, each burdened with heavy packs. One mule carried panniers brimming with money, while the other bore sacks filled with grain. The mule with the treasure walked proudly, head held high, the bells on his neck jingling melodiously. His companion, carrying the grain, followed with a calm and steady gait. Suddenly, a band of robbers sprang from their hiding places and attacked. In the chaos, the mule carrying the treasure was wounded by a sword, and the robbers eagerly seized the money. They paid no attention to the grain. The injured mule lamented his fate, crying out in pain and sorrow. His companion, unscathed and still carrying his load of grain, replied, "I am indeed fortunate that I was deemed unimportant. I have lost nothing and have not been hurt."

 'Nasrudin' was preaching in a mosque at the time of the 'Tatar' conquest of Western Asia. He was no supporter of 'Tamerlane.' ' Tamerlane ' has heard that the ' Mulla ' was against him, and crept into the mosque dressed as a dervish. 'God will strike the Tatars ,' Nasrudin announced at the end of his sermon. 'He will not grant your prayer,' said the dervish, stepping forward. 'And why not? asked Nasrudin . Because you are being punished for what you have done and what you have not done. There is such a thing as cause and effect. How can anyone be punished for doing something which is itself a chastisement?' ' Nasrudin ' began to feel uncomfortable; for dervishes are not too trifled with. 'Who are you, and what is your name?' he asked, blustering a little. 'I am a dervish, and my name is 'Timur.' A number of the congregation now rose, bows and arrows in their hands. They were disguised members

  "We will have hanged you, " said a cruel and ignorant king, who had heard of Nasrudin's powers, "if you don't prove that you are a mystic." "I see strange things," said Nasrudin at once, "a golden bird in the sky, demons under the earth." "How can you see through solid objects? How can you see far into the sky?" "Fear is all you need," replied Nasrudin .

  ' Hurmuz' (ancient Persian King)  was asked, "What fault did you see in your father's viziers that you had them imprisoned." "I did not discover any particular fault," he said, "but I saw that dread of me in their hearts was boundless and they did not have complete confidence in my ability to rule. I was afraid that, in fear of being stung themselves, they would try to destroy me. Therefore I put into practice the saying of the wise: "Fear him who fears you, O wise on, even if you can overcome in battle a hundred like him."

  Once upon a time, in a land where kings ruled and stables held magnificent steeds, there lived a poor donkey. This humble creature toiled alongside its master, carrying burdens and enduring hunger. Despite its meager existence, the ass remained resilient, grateful for each day of life. One fateful day, the chief of the King’s stables noticed the weary donkey. His heart softened, and he decided to intervene. The poor ass was brought into the royal care, where it would receive nourishment and companionship alongside the majestic Arab horses. As the days passed, the donkey couldn’t help but compare its own plight to that of the noble steeds. The Arab horses, with their sleek coats and graceful movements, seemed like creatures from another world. They were pampered, well-fed, and adorned with the finest trappings. In moments of quiet reflection, the donkey raised its voice to the heavens. “Why, oh God,” it implored, “do these horses enjoy such abundance while I suffer in hunger and hards

  'If I give out an empty book, meaning, "You cannot yet profit from my book', you will perhaps think, 'He is insulting me.' But if I give out a full and understandable book, all readers will take its superficialities for their stimulation, exclaiming 'how magnificent, how profound'. People will follow these outward things after I am gone, making them a source of stimulation and debate. They will read didactics into them, or poetry, exercises or stories. If I give out no books, or a small one, scholars will scoff and ruin the minds of potential and vulnerable students with alternative literature, even more than they do at present. Baffled students become destructive, imagining solutions and then trying to impose them upon others. If I give out a large book, some people will imagine that it is pretentious. All these suppositions are there, you notice, because they suit the people to have them, not because they are even likely to be true. If I give out a cryp

'Nasurdin' was trotting his donkey in all directions one day. Someone asked him, "Where are you going, Nasrudin?" He said, "I am looking for my donkey!" 

  How are you getting on with that memory-training course you got by correspondence, 'Mulla'? 'I'm improving. Now I can sometimes remember that I have forgotten something.'

  Life/soul is like a clear mirror, the body is dust on it. Beauty in us is not perceived, for we are under the dust. -Jalaludin Rumi

 انگلیند، اٹلی، فرانس، جرمنی، پولینڈ، امریکہ، آسٹریلیا وغیرہ میں غیر ملکی تارکین وقت کے خلاف نسلی تعصب کی پہلے اکا دکا خبریں آتی تھیں مگر اب پر تشدد اور باقاعدہ ہجوم کی صورت میں یہ شہ سرخیاں بن چکی ہیں۔ اب تو نسل پرست سیاسی قائدین کھلے عام تارکین وطن کے خلاف سیاسی تقاریر کرتے ہوئے نظر آتے ہیں۔ ایسے لگتا ہے جیسے یورپ اپنے کھوکھلے پن کا کھلے عام اظہار کر رہے ہے اور اس حماقت کی طرف جا رہا ہے جہاں سے اس کا اپنا زوال شروع ہوتا ہے۔ ترقی پذیر ملکوں کے نالائق، بد دیانت اور بد نیت سیاستدانوں کی بدولت آزادی کے بعد بھی دولت کا بہائو غریب ممالک سے امیر ممالک کی طرف جا رہا تھا اور آج تک جاری ہے۔ غریب ملکوں کے وسائل پر قبضوں اور من پسند وسائل پر مقامی قائدین کی ملی بھگت سے ملٹی نینشل کمپنیوں کے سائے میں یورپ نے خوب ترقی کی۔ اس ترقی کے راز میں نہ صرف مادی وسائل کا خراج ہوا مگر ذہنی بہائو کا اخراج بھی غریب ملکوں سے امیر ملکوں کی طرف ہوا۔ ہمارے ذہین ترین اور اعلیٰ دماغوں نے اپنے ملکوں میں محنت کرنے کی بجائے ان ملکوں میں محنت کی اور اعلیٰ عہدوں پر پہنچ گئے۔ غریب ملکوں سے اکثر امیر ملکوں میں جانے وا

A prince, while engaged on a hunting excursion, espied a fair maiden and, by promises of gold, induced her to accompany him. After a time, she fell sick, and the prince had her tended by various physicians. However, as they all omitted to say, “God willing, we will cure her,” their efforts were of no avail. So the prince offered a prayer, and in answer, a physician was sent from heaven. He at once condemned his predecessors’ view of the case and, by a very skillful diagnosis, discovered that the real cause of the maiden’s illness was her love for a certain goldsmith of Samarcand . In accordance with the physician’s advice, the prince sent to Samarcand , fetched the goldsmith, and married him to the lovesick maiden. For six months, the pair lived together in the utmost harmony and happiness. At the end of that period, the physician, by divine command, gave the goldsmith a poisonous draught, which caused his strength and beauty to decay. He then lost favour with the maiden, and she was r

A lion took a wolf and a fox on a hunting excursion. They successfully caught a wild ox, an ibex, and a hare. The lion then instructed the wolf to divide the prey. The wolf suggested giving the ox to the lion, the ibex to himself, and the hare to the fox. The lion, enraged by the wolf’s presumption to speak of “I” and “Thou,” and “My share” and “Thy share,” when all rightfully belonged to the lion, killed the wolf with a single blow of his paw. Turning to the fox, the lion ordered him to make the division. The fox, wary of the wolf’s fate, declared that the entire catch should be the lion’s portion. Pleased with the fox’s self-abnegation, the lion gave everything to the fox, saying, “You are no longer a fox, but myself.”

 A wizened sage, from beyond ' Ashsharg' , a far-off Eastern land, had arrived in the village. His philosophical expositions were so abstruse and yet so tantalising that the usual company in the tea house soon became convinced that he could perhaps unveil from the the mysteries of life. ' Nasrudin ' listened to him for a while. 'You know,' he said, 'I have had experiences something like yours on your travel. I, too, have been wandering teacher.' 'Tell me something about it, if you must,' said the elder, somewhat ruffled at the interruption. 'Oh, yes, I must, 'said the ' Mulla' . He continued: 'For instance, there was the trip which I took through Kurdistan. I was welcomed everywhere I went. I stayed at one monastery after another, where the dervishes listened eagerly to me. I was given free lodging at carvanserais , free food at tea houses. Everywhere the people were impressed by me.' The ancient monk was becoming impatien

When human beings were having their characteristics given out to them, one of the angels came to a man who was to be a dervish and asked, “What do you want?” The dervish-to-be answered, “Nothing,” and continued to sit in contemplation of Truth. The angel went from one to another of the humans-to-be and asked their wishes. The king-to-be said, “Pomp and importance.” The peasant-to-be said, “Work to do.” The warrior-to-be said, “Glory.” And so it went on. Then a voice said to the dervish-to-be, “You have asked nothing for yourself, and it is not too late to choose. Because of your desire for Truth, however, you shall have a glimpse of how humanity will use the attributes…” As the dervish-to-be looked into a mirror that was held before him, he saw kings in their pomp and ceremony, peasants working endlessly, soldiers continually fighting. Then the dervish-to-be gasped, “But what will be the future of the People of Learning?” The picture in the mirror shifted, and he saw priests, scholars,

Confucius said, "One who is not a true man cannot long stand poverty, nor can he stand prosperity for long. A true man is happy and natural in living according to the principles of true manhood, but a wise man thinks it is advantageous to do so. "  "Only a true man knows how to love people and how to hate people."

Confucius said, "The superior man is easy to serve, but difficult to please, for he can be pleased by what is right, and he uses men according to their individual abilities. The inferior man is difficult to serve, but easy to please, for you can please him (by catering to his weaknesses) without necessarily being right, and when he comes to using men, he demands perfection."

کچھ دنوں سے مجھے اوبر یا کریم یا ان ڈرائو پر سفر کرنے کا موقع ملا۔ عجیب اتفاق ہے کہ ہر دفعہ کوئی یونیورسٹی سٹوڈنٹ کار چلا رہا تھا۔ اس کا رویہ بھی اچھا تھا اس لیے میں نے پورے سکور دیے۔ مجھے اس لیے بھی خوشی ہوئی کہ والدین کا ہاتھ بٹھانا چاہتے تھے یا اس طرح سوچتے تھے تاکہ رزق حلال کما سکیں اور نوکریوں کے دھکے نہ کھائیں۔ میرے خیال میں نوجوان نسل میں یہ ایک مثبت سوچ ہے چونکہ جب یہی بچے بیرون ملک تعلیم حاصل کرنے کے لیے ایسے کام کر سکتے ہیں ہوٹلوں میں کام کر سکتے ہیں ٹیکسیاں چلا سکتے ہیں تو لاہور یا پاکستان میں کیوں نہیں۔ اس طرح وہ ایک بوجھ کی بجائے خود انحصار انسان کے طور پر ابھرتے ہیں۔ وہ سیکھتے ہیں کہ کمانا کتنا مشکل ہےْ۔ وہ سیکھتے ہیں کہ خاندان کی مدد کیسے کرنی ہے۔ وہ سیکھتے ہیں کہ مختلف لوگوں سے کیسے ڈیل کرنا ہے۔ وہ ایک کاروبار سیکھتے ہیں اور لوگوں کے سمندر میں ابھرنے کی آرزو کرتے ہیں۔ وہ صرف کتابی علم کی بجائے انسانوں کے رویوں اور تعلقات سے سیکھتے ہیں۔ نوجوان نسل کے ذہنوں میں جو تصور ڈرل کر کے بٹھا دیا گیا ہے کہ ان کو نوکری کرنی چاہیے آہستہ آہستہ مدھم ہو رہا ہے۔ نوکریوں کی تلاش میں

A dog, accustomed to eating eggs, came across an oyster one day. Mistaking it for an egg, he eagerly swallowed it whole. Soon after, he experienced severe stomach pain and lamented, “I deserve this agony for foolishly assuming that everything round is an egg.” Moral: Acting without proper thought can lead to unexpected trouble

An eagle was captured by a man who clipped its wings and placed it in his poultry yard with other birds. The eagle, weighed down with grief, was unable to fly. Later, a kind neighbour bought the eagle and allowed its feathers to grow back. Once the eagle regained its ability to fly, it caught a hare and brought it as a gift to its benefactor. A fox, observing this, advised the eagle, “Do not seek the favour of this man, but of your former owner, lest he capture you again and clip your wings once more.”

' Ahangar ' was a mighty sword smith who lived in one of Afghanistan's remote eastern valley. In time of peace he made steel ploughs, shoed horses and above all, he sang. The songs of ' Ahangar ', who is known by different names in various parts of the valleys. They came from the forests of giant walnut-trees, from the snowcapped 'Hindu Kush', from ' Qataghan' and ' Badakhshan' , from ' Khanabad' and ' Kunar' , from ' Herat' and ' Paghman' , to hear his songs. Above all, the people came to hear the song of all songs, which was 'Ahangar's Song of the Valley of Paradise. This song had a haunting quality, and a strange lilt, and most of all it had a story which was so strange that people felt they knew the remote Valley of Paradise of which the smith sang. Often they asked him to sing it when he was not in the mood to do so, and he would refuse. Sometimes people asked him whether the Valley was truly re

 A studious and dedicated seeker after truth arrived at the ' tekkia' of ' Bahaudin Naqashband.' In accordance with custom, he attended the lectures and asked no question. When Bahaudin at last said to him: "Ask something of me," this man said: "Shah before I come to you I studied such-and-such a philosophy under so-and-so. Attracted by your repute I journeyed to your ' tekkia .' "Hearing your addressed I have been impressed by what you are saying, and wish to continue my studies with you." "But, since I have such gratitude and attachment to my former studies and teacher, I would like you either to explain their connection with your work, or else to make me forget them, so that I may continue without a divided mind." 'Bahaudin' said: "I can do neither of these things. When I can do, however, is to inform you that one of the surest signs of human vanity is to be attached to a person, and to a creed, and to imagin