The Man, the House, and the Cat
In order to be considered a Muslim (that is, someone who follows the religion of Islam), you must do five things. First, you must confess that there is no God but Allah whose prophet is Mohammed; second, you must pray five times a day; third, you must fast during the month of Ramadan; fourth, if you possibly can, you must make the journey to Mecca, the most holy city of Islam; and fifth, you must give money to the poor.
The Sufi master and dervish, Sheik Nasir el-Din Shah, told this story about giving money to the poor.
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Once there was a man who was very troubled in his mind. He faced such great troubles in his life that he could see no way out. Oh, his problems were so great that I dare not tell you what they were. If you heard all his problems, you would be desparately sad for a month.
And yet his troubles kept growing worse. It got so bad, his friends gave up on him, his servants moved out, he had no one to talk to but his cat. In desperation, the man swore that if he ever found a way out of his troubles, he would sell his house, and give all the money he gained from selling his house to the poor people who lived in his city.
Soon thereafter, his troubles miraculously came to an end! Within two or three days, everything was fine once again. He sighed with relief. Once again, he could enjoy living in his beautiful house -- and then he remembered. He had sworn that if he ever got out of his troubles, he would sell his beautiful house, and give all the money to the poor.
He realized he did not want to sell his house. Why, if he sold his house, and gave away all that money, he would have so little money left, he would have to live in a much smaller house. That would be most unpleasant! But he swore he would sell his house. But there was no reason for him to give away so much money; far better that he keep the money for himself.
So he told people they could buy his house for one piece of silver. However, his cat must continue to live in the house. Everyone knows that cats don't like to move. And the cat was such a valuable cat, he must sell it for no less than ten thousand pieces of silver.
A rich merchant bought the house for one piece of silver, and also bought the cat for ten thousand pieces of silver. The man gave all the money he gained from the sale of his house to the poor, which was only one piece of silver. But the money from the sale of the cat — ten thousand pieces of silver — that money, the man kept.
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Sheik Nasir el-Din Shah said that many people are just like the man who sold his house for one piece of silver. Many people resolve to do the right thing, but then they change things around in their minds to make it easier, and make it be to their advantage. Nasir el-Din Shah said that until we can stop doing this, we will not learn anything at all.
A Sufi tale from Tales of the Dervishes, by Idries Shah (Dutton, 1967).