There was a certain man called Danish who had a pomegranate tree. One year his pomegranate tree bore exceptional fruit, so he chose three of the best and took them to the palace as a gift for the Emir. For this, he was generously rewarded.

Some months later, Danish's turnip crop proved unusually fine, so he filled a basket with the best turnips and set out for the palace.
Just then a neighbor, who knew what Danish was doing, called out, "Are turnips any gift for an Emir? Shame on you! Take him something dainty or sweet. Take him some figs!"
Danish thought about it, and decided that this was correct, so he arrived at the palace with a basket of figs over his arm. This time, however, the Emir was in an angry mood, and far from rewarding Danish, he ordered his servants to pelt him with his own figs and chase him out.

Every time a fig hit him, Danish would cry out, "May God reward you with His blessing, dear neighbor!" and "God grant you abundant riches, dear neighbor!"
The Emir became curious about Danish's outcries and finally ordered his servants to stop and ask Danish what he was talking about.
"Sir," said Danish, "I was bringing you a basket of the largest and fattest turnips you have ever seen, white and sweet as apples, but my neighbor told me that figs would be a better gift. Should I not thank the man who has saved my life? For had this basket been full of turnips, every bone in my body would be broken by now!"
The Emir laughed and sent Danish home with a purse of gold for cheering him up!

Adapted and reprinted with permission from http://www.zensufi.com/figs.htm. For further information, please contact zs@zensufi.com. This story is a humorous folktale from Iraq.

Q: How did Danish respond to the Emir's bad mood? Did it affect the outcome of the story? Would it have been different, do you think, if Danish had reacted negatively to the Emir's rudeness?

Q: Chariji often uses an analogy to demonstrate how people view situations. He says that when given a glass half-filled with water, some people will see it as half-full and some as half-empty. Thus some see the good in any situation, others complain because it is not as good as it could be in their eyes. Do you make the most of everything that happens to you?

O, Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes
Putting bar to our advancement,
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage.