An elder was advising his servant:
“You are absolutely foolish. Look at Mir Sahib’s servant—how farsighted he is! When Mir Sahib bought an electric bulb from the bazaar, his servant also brought along a bottle of kerosene oil and two wax candles. He thought that if the bulb fused, the lantern could still be used, and if the lantern’s chimney broke or oil ran out, the candles would come in handy.”
“Once, I sent you to fetch a tonga. You came back after half an hour with empty hands and said, ‘Sir, there was no tonga. Should I bring a motor rickshaw instead?’ If you had been Mir Sahib’s servant, you would have brought the motor rickshaw right away so we wouldn’t have to send you back again.”
The servant felt very ashamed and firmly resolved to follow his master’s advice.
A few days later, by chance, the master fell ill with fever and sent the servant to call the physician. After some time, the physician arrived, but three other men followed him. They greeted respectfully and stood aside. One was carrying a piece of cloth, another held a water pot, and the third had a spade on his shoulder.
The master asked his servant,
“Who are these people, dear fellow?”
The servant introduced them:
“Sir, though the physician is very skilled, who can interfere with God’s will? Just in case anything untoward should happen, I have brought a tailor with the shroud cloth, a washerman to perform the last bath, and a grave-digger with his spade. I brought them all together so I wouldn’t have to run about again and again.”
(Translation of a passage by Ibn Insha)
