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A certain king one day called a counsellor to him and said: "The strength of real thinking depends upon the examination of alternatives. Tell me which alternative is better: to increase the knowledge of my people or to give them more to eat. In either case they will benefit."

The Sufi said: "Majesty, there is no point in giving knowledge to those who cannot receive it, any more than there is point in giving food to those who cannot understand your motives. Therefore it is not correct to assume that 'in either case they will benefit.' If they cannot digest the food, or if they think you give it to them as a bribe, or that they can get more--you have failed. If they cannot see that they are being given knowledge, or whether it is knowledge or not, or even why you are giving it to them--they will not benefit. Therefore the question must be taken by degrees. The first degree is the consideration: 'The most valuable person is worthless and the most worthless person is valuable.'"

"Demonstrate this truth to me, for I cannot understand it," said the king.

The Sufi then called the chief dervish of Afghanistan, and he came to the Court. "If you had your way, what would you have someone in Kabul do?" he asked.

"It so happens that there is a man near such-and-such a place who, if he knew it, could be giving a pound of cherries to a certain necessitous man, gain a fortune for himself and also great advancement for the whole country and progress for the Path," said the chief dervish, who knew of the inner correspondence of things.

The king was excited, for Sufis do not generally discourse upon such things. "Call him here and we will have it done," he cried. The others silenced him with a gesture. "No," said the first Sufi, "this cannot work unless it is done voluntarily."

In disguise, in order not to influence the man's choice, the three of them went straight to the Kabul bazaar. Divested of his turban and robe, the chief Sufi looked very much like any ordinary man. "I will take the part of the exciting cause," he whispered, as the group stood looking at the fruit. He approached the greengrocer and wished him good day. Then he said, "I know a poor man. Will you give him a pound of cherries, as a charity?" The greengrocer bellowed with laughter. "Well, I have heard some tricks, but this is the first time that someone who wanted cherries has stooped to ask me as if it were for charity!"

"You see what I mean?" the first Sufi asked the king. "the most valuable man we have has just made the most valuable suggestion, and the event has proved that he is worthless to the man to whom he speaks."

"But what about 'the most worthless person' being valuable?" asked the king.

The two dervishes beckoned him to follow them.

As they were about to cross the Kabul River, the two Sufis suddenly seized the king and threw him into the water. He could not swim.

As he felt himself about to drown, Kaka Divana--whose name means Insane Uncle--a well-known pauper and lunatic who roamed the streets, jumped in and brought him safely to the bank. Various other, more solid, citizens had seen him in the water, but none moved.

When the king was somewhat restored, the two dervishes intoned together: "The most worthless person is valuable!"

So the king went back to his old, traditional method of giving whatever he could--whether education or help of any kind--to those whom it was decided from time to time were the most worthy recipients of such aid.

Sufi Abdul-Hamid Khan of Qandahar, who died in 1962, was Master of the Afghan Mint and known as a dervish Ancient who had mastered Western technology.