Islamic Stories - , A Feast for Clothes

Once upon a time in the Iranian city of Shiraz, there lived the famous
poet Sheikh Saadi. Like most other poets and philosophers, Sheikh
Saadi was not a rich man. He led a very simple life. A rich merchant
of Shiraz invited Sheikh Saadi along with a lot of other big
businessmen of the town on the occasion of his daughter's marriage
which was to be a grandaffair. Sheikh Saadi accepted the invitation
and decided to attend.
On the day of the wedding, the host and his family were receiving the
guests at the gate. They were ushering all the guests towards the
dining hall. All the rich people of the town attended the wedding.
They had come out in best of theirattires. Sheikh Saadi wore simple
clothes which were neither grand nor expensive. He waited in a corner
for someone to approach him but no one gave him as much as even a
second glance. Even the host did not acknowledge him and looked away.
Seeing all this, Sheikh Saadi quietlyleft the party and went to a shop
from where hecould hire clothes. There he chose a richly brocaded
dress which was embroidered in gold on the margins. He selected a
fancy turban and a waist-band to go with it. As he put on the hired
dress and looked into the mirror, he found himself a changedperson.
With this, he entered thedining hall and this time was welcomed with
open arms. The host embraced him as he would do to an old friend and
complimented him on the clothes he was wearing. On seeing him, he
said, "And here comesour favourite poet. Whattook you so long,
friend?We have been waiting for you for ages! How good of you to have
come. The gathering surely would have been incomplete without
yourgracious presence!" Saadi did not utter a word and allowed the
host to lead him to the dining room where other guests had assembled.
Tasty dishes had been laid out on grand carpets. Saadi wasoffered a
seat with soft cushions. The food was served in fine crockery and
cutlery made out of silver.
The host led Sheikh Saadi by hand and himself served out the chicken
soup and the fragrant rice to him. After this, something strange
happened. Sheikh Saadi dipped the corner of his waist-coat in the soup
and sprinkled some rice on it. Addressing the clothes, he said: "This
is a feast for you, you should enjoy it."
All the guests were now staring at him in surprise. The host
said,"Sir, what are doing? How can your colthes eat? And why should
they? To this query, Sheikh Saadi very calmly replied: "My dear
friend, I am indeed surprised with the question coming from you."
"Aren't you the same person who did not even throw a look at me when I
came dressed in simple clothes. I can guess that it is my clothes and
appearance that matter with you, not my individual worth.Now that I
have put on grand clothes, I see a world of difference in reception
here. All that I can now say is that this feast is meant for my
clothes, not for me."

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