The Haunted Mosque
The town’s mosque was haunted. Anyone seeking shelter there died before dawn.
The townspeople put up a sign: DANGER!
A wandering dervish arrived. “I’ll sleep in the mosque,” he declared. “I’ve died in the flames of love already; I fear nothing.”
In the night, he heard a dreadful voice.
“Be afraid!” said the voice.
“I fear not!” he replied.
Five times the voice spoke; five times the dervish replied. The fifth time, gold rained down, filling the mosque. The dervish worked until dawn hauling out the gold.
“Fear not,” said the dervish, and he gave the gold to the townspeople.
Tiny Tales from the Sufis (Amazon, Author) by Laura Gibbs. Copyright 2020. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and mirrored here with permission.