The Wisdom of the Sands, Vol 2

CHAPTER 1

The Man with the Inexplicable Life
2 March 1978 am in Buddha Hall

THERE WAS ONCE A MAN NAMED MOJUD. HE LIVED IN A TOWN WHERE HE HAD OBTAINED
A POST AS A SMALL OFFICIAL, AND IT SEEMED LIKELY THAT HE WOULD END HIS DAYS AS
INSPECTOR OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
ONE DAY WHEN HE WAS WALKING THROUGH THE GARDENS OF AN ANCIENT BUILDING
NEAR HIS HOME, KHIDR, THE MYSTERIOUS GUIDE OF THE SUFIS, APPEARED TO HIM,
DRESSED IN SHIMMERING GREEN. KHIDR SAID, ”MAN OF BRIGHT PROSPECTS! LEAVE
YOUR WORK AND MEET ME AT THE RIVERSIDE IN THREE DAYS’ TIME.” THEN HE
DISAPPEARED.
MOJUD WENT TO HIS SUPERIOR IN TREPIDATION AND SAID THAT HE HAD TO LEAVE.
EVERYONE IN THE TOWN SOON HEARD OF THIS AND THEY SAID, ”POOR MOJUD! HE HAS
GONE MAD.” BUT, AS THERE WERE MANY CANDIDATES FOR HIS JOB, THEY SOON FORGOT
HIM.
ON THE APPOINTED DAY, MOJUD MET KHIDR, WHO SAID TO HIM, ”TEAR YOUR CLOTHES
AND THROW YOURSELF INTO THE STREAM. PERHAPS SOMEONE WILL SAVE YOU.”
MOJUD DID SO, EVEN THOUGH HE WONDERED IF HE WERE MAD.
SINCE HE COULD SWIM, HE DID NOT DROWN, BUT DRIFTED A LONG WAY BEFORE A
FISHERMAN HAULED HIM INTO HIS BOAT, SAYING, ”FOOLISH MAN! THE CURRENT IS
STRONG. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?” MOJUD SAID, ”I DON’T REALLY KNOW.”

”YOU ARE MAD,” SAID THE FISHERMAN, ”BUT I WILL TAKE YOU INTO MY REED-HUT BY THE
RIVER YONDER, AND WE SHALL SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR YOU.”
WHEN HE DISCOVERED THAT MOJUD WAS WELL-SPOKEN, HE LEARNED FROM HIM HOW
TO READ AND WRITE. IN EXCHANGE, MOJUD WAS GIVEN FOOD AND HELPED THE
FISHERMAN WITH HIS WORK. AFTER A FEW MONTHS, KHIDR AGAIN APPEARED, THIS TIME
AT THE FOOT OF MOJUD’S BED, AND SAID, ”GET UP NOW AND LEAVE THIS FISHERMAN.
YOU WILL BE PROVIDED FOR.”
MOJUD IMMEDIATELY QUIT THE HUT, DRESSED AS A FISHERMAN, AND WANDERED ABOUT
UNTIL HE CAME TO A HIGHWAY.
AS DAWN WAS BREAKING HE SAW A FARMER ON A DONKEY ON HIS WAY TO MARKET. ”DO
YOU SEEK WORK?” ASKED THE FARMER, ”BECAUSE I NEED A MAN TO HELP ME BRING
BACK SOME PURCHASES.”
MOJUD FOLLOWED HIM. HE WORKED FOR THE FARMER FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS, BY
WHICH TIME HE HAD LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT AGRICULTURE BUT LITTLE ELSE.
ONE AFTERNOON WHEN HE WAS BALING WOOL, KHIDR APPEARED TO HIM AND SAID,
”LEAVE THAT WORK, WALK TO THE CITY OF MOSUL, AND USE YOUR SAVINGS TO BECOME
A SKIN-MERCHANT.”
MOJUD OBEYED.
IN MOSUL HE BECAME KNOWN AS A SKIN-MERCHANT, NEVER SEEING KHIDR WHILE HE
PLIED HIS TRADE FOR THREE YEARS. HE HAD SAVED QUITE A LARGE SUM OF MONEY,
AND WAS THINKING OF BUYING A HOUSE, WHEN KHIDR APPEARED AND SAID, ”GIVE ME
YOUR MONEY,WALK OUT OF THIS TOWN AS FAR AS THE DISTANT SAMARKAND, ANDWORK
FOR A GROCER THERE.”

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