ANCIENT WISDOM-9
THE KING AND THE DERVISH
(A Persian wisdom anecdote from the Sufi tradition, often associated with Saadi Shirazi)
Whirling Dervishes
Author: Vladimer Shioshvili
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Via WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A powerful king once went hunting in the desert.
After hours of riding, he became thirsty and exhausted.
In the distance he saw a humble dervish sitting under a tree.
The king approached and asked,
“Holy man, can you give me some water?”
The dervish offered a small cup of water from his earthen pot.
The king drank gratefully.
Then he asked,
“Tell me, wise man — what is the greatest danger for a king?”
The dervish replied calmly:
“The greatest danger for a king is forgetting that he is only a man.”
The king fell silent.
Before leaving, he bowed slightly to the dervish —
for he had received a lesson greater than the water he had been given.
🌿 Reflection
Power often creates the illusion of greatness.
But wisdom reminds us that all human beings share the same fragility.
Humility protects power from becoming tyranny.
And truth sometimes comes from the simplest voices.
Grateful thanks to ChatGPT for its kind help and support in creating this blogpost!🙏
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