The Sultan’s Seven Years

“Plunge your head into this basin of water,” said the Sufi to the Sultan.

The Sultan found himself on a seashore.

A beautiful woman approached. “I must marry a shipwrecked man!” she said.

They married and had seven sons, living luxuriously for seven years.

“My wealth is gone,” the woman said. “Provide for us!” So the Sultan became a porter in the marketplace.

One day he bent down to wash his face in a basin of water — and found himself in his old palace.

“Seven years…” muttered the Sultan.

“No,” said the Sufi, smiling. “It was only a moment.”

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