The Hidden Cost of Wisdom: Why Shortcuts to Knowledge Often Cost the Most

 ‘Haidar’ heard a disciple say:

‘I am glad that I did not buy such-and-such a book, for now I have arrived at Source of  of its knowledge I have saved myself pain and needless expense.’

After a year Haidar handed him a book, saying:

‘You have served me for twelve months. The value of your labor has been a hundred  dirhams.  That is the cost of this book.

‘You would not have paid a hundred silver pieces for such an inanimate object as a book, and few people would do so. But you have been made to pay for it, by me, and here it is.

‘A camel is dear at a penny if you do not need a camel. ‘A   single word is cheap at a thousand gold pieces, if it is essential to you.

‘If you wish to return to the Source of Being, you will always have to take the first step, even though you may be demanding to be allowed to take the hundredth step.’