A Prayer for a Tyrant
There was a dervish whose prayers were very acceptable to God.
One day his wanderings took the dervish to Baghdad, and there the tyrannical governor summoned the dervish into his presence.
“Pray a good prayer for me,” the governor commanded.
The dervish prayed, “O God, please take away this man's life!”
The governor shouted, “What kind of prayer is that?”
“It is a prayer for you and for the whole world,” replied the dervish. “Nothing in this world's bazaar lasts forever. I prayed that you be free of life, and so then the world will be free of your tyranny.”
Tiny Tales from the Sufis (Amazon, Author) by Laura Gibbs. Copyright 2020. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and mirrored here with permission.