How to Make Them Hear?

A dervish, instructing a disciple, said, There is only one way to make people hear you. You must know what you are saying, and you must have the necessary conduct for people to hear you’

The disciple, irritated by the long time which his ancient mentor was taking to give out his wisdom, felt that he had heard enough, and went on his way.

For some years he studied the art of knowing what he was saying, and cultivated the conduct of a good man. People began to respect him, and few left his presence without remarking what a pure soul he was. One day a young man arrived at the town where he was to make a speech.

The youth kept shouting scandal, and everyone listened to him. Hardly anyone went to the lecture by the dervish’s pupil.

So he went back to his old master, now over a hundred years old, and asked him to explain.

‘Ah’, said the ancient, 'you are the man who did not wait to hear the end of the teaching. You see, you have to be the kind of saint that people want at the time. If they want a real man, they will not go for teaching to a man simply because he looks like a saint. The qualifications for a teacher are not that he has a certain look but that he has a certain effect.’