Mulla Nasrudin once undertook to take nine donkeys for delivery to a local farmer.
The man who entrusted them to him counted them, one by one, so that Nasrudin could be sure that there really were nine.
On the road his attention was distracted by something by the wayside.
Nasrudin, sitting astride one of the animals, counted them, again and again. He could make it only eight.
Panic-stricken, he jumped off, looked all over the place, and then counted them again. There were nine.
Then he noticed a remarkable thing. When he was sitting on donkey-back, he could see only eight donkeys. When, however, he dismounted, there were nine in full view.
“This is the penalty,” reflected the Mulla, “for riding, when I should, no doubt, be walking behind the donkeys.”
“Did you have any difficulty getting them here?” asked the farmer when Mulla Nasrudin arrived, dusty and disheveled.
“Not after I learned the trick of donkey-drivers — walk behind,” said Nasrudin. “Before that, they were full of tricks.”
From “The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin”, by Idries Shah
41 Comments
Careful…they’re likely going to tag your ass with a jeehad for making fun of their mulla.
Ah Chris,
I wouldn’t worry overmuch.
Most of us are in the 72114 zipcode. But then, we don’t call ’em jeehads – we call ’em feuds.
“Hatfield’s and McCoy’s” “Brookes – Baxter War?”
I suspect it would be a Blog thing, “Assimilate or…” That wasn’t actually the title, I think it was “They Shoot Jackasses Don’t They?”
Anyway, it’s “Be Kind To A Jack Ass Week” and we in the US always pay attention to what our elected “Representatives” pass by clear majorities. Incidentally, “Be Kind To A JackAss WeeK” only required a simple majority. A single vote.
Chris? Ya reckon if we held a vote here on a similar “Be Kind To A Jackass Week” the minority voting bloc would acquiesce?
…Nah, me neither.
How dare you ridicule Islam, you Islamophobe! Watch yourself, for we know where you live. Somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy, right? Think of that with fear and trembling, infidel. We know how to use Google Cosmos! We’re currently trying to narrow down your precise location, and we’ve gotten to within several thousand light-years . . . but rest assured (or not), we will soon have determined a few heavy-years for you! You donkey-dog son of a camel monkey.
Jafari Hadjiz
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Shit, man. Is there a reason to tolerate this kind of shit from chris? It only strengthens the impression that this is a forum for bigotry, and not much else.
Alright Dimwit!
Fourth planet out from C-Cygnis 4. If you look through the old Hubble photos it’s the green one, just downrange of that pulsar.
Okay, I may’ve gotten the zipcode wrong but that’s simply a forwarding address.
When you get to the Post Office and they ask, repeat John Lennon’s words, incidentally he’s my next door neighbor – keep repeating,
“Number 9, number 9, number 9, number 9….”
I’ll be the one standing in the overfilled jacuzzi. Bag of popcorn and a sombrero. Easy.
Easy as taking out a bunch of shoppers simply going about their day.
I can’t imagine why anyone of normal intelligence who is not himself a fanatic of some sort would possibly imagine that this is a forum for bigotry; it is nothing of the sort.
When these posts of mine are picked up by Sphere and linked to by CNN, a much greater variety of people tend to show up than usual; some of them are obviously angry, and depressingly shallow-minded. I’d be grateful to our commenters, though, if they wouldn’t taunt and bait those who come here carrying a chip on their shoulder as the sum total of their cultural and intellectual armamentarium; it only encourages them.
As for the Mulla, I’ve been sharing these instructive and multi-layered little fables for years.
I am a Muslim and i thought the Mulla story is funny and totally fine. I am sure people who hate Islam think otherwise.
Horace Jeffery Hodges,
Funny how your stupid Quran, Hadit, etc.. hateful interpretation haven’t got far? Maybe people are sick of your message and your intelligent officer style and not worth a response. After Obama’s speech the Radical Jews are against world once again, how do you feel about that?
Thank you, Ahmed. The point of that story has nothing to do with Islam, of course, as I am sure you realize.
Amy, at least you got the spelling of Jeffery’s name right.
but Malcolm, no Muslim complained about it from i see here, only your friends did and i am full aware of who they are. So this is none issue really, it is just a nice story that speaks to humans in general. The other thing, the ‘Mula” term is an Urdu/Persian word used only in the Pakistan, afganistan and India region.
And in Iran, of course, and by Shi’ites all over.
“‘Mula” term is an Urdu/Persian word ” Persian language is spoken in Iran, and i said region because it’s a local cultural/linguistic thing more so than its attachment to the terminology of Islam,
Anyways, the stories of Mulla Nasrudin stories are originated from the famous Arabic Juha , and they are unbelievably remarkable and funny.3
Oh, and it is not used by Shia’ allover. For example the term is not used by Lebanese, Syrian, Saudi, Bahrain or Iraqi Shia’s. Again, it is a regional term.
Actually, I thought the word came from the Arabic “maula“, which is confirmed for me by this Wikipedia article (insofar as Wikipedia can be thought to “confirm” anything; the article also mentions the Urdu origin you allude to). I am aware that it is used less in Arabic-speaking areas, though. Its usage seems to be rather different in different places.
Just by posting here I’m risking infection by some toxic JBV (jeehadist blog virus) but having reviewed the other Nasrudin posts I decided to put the book on hold at my local library. They have it cross referenced to this: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/404014/Nasreddin-Hoca
It sounds like it’s the same sort of thing?
(Apologizes Jack. For the record, I hate all races & religions including my own with equal effort)
Yes, same thing.
Amy wrote to Jeffery:
“Funny how your stupid Quran, Hadit, etc.. hateful interpretation haven’t got far? Maybe people are sick of your message and your intelligent officer style and not worth a response. After Obama’s speech the Radical Jews are against world once again, how do you feel about that?”
Jeffery replies: Eh?
Jeffery Hodges
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From my days hanging out with sufis, I seem to recall that the Mulla Nasrudin stories are part of a long tradition centering on “holy fools”. In a backhanded sort of way, they illustrate just how narrow is the line between being simple and being a simpleton. And they’re funny.
Yes, that’s it exactly, Bob. And while they can be enjoyed just “as is”, there is a little kernel in each of the stories, for those who want a little more nourishment and are willing to chew on them a bit.
I am not disputing its origins as the Urdu and the Persian languages have many Arabic words, most used differently and awkwardly at times to an Arabic native speaker. I was just saying that the term is not used in the Arabic world amongst Shai’s as you mentioned. I am just responding to your specific comment. And even the Wikpedia page you used agrees. In the Arab Shai, the term most used is ‘Siad’ or ‘Shareef’ or ‘Shiaq’ , etc.. anyways, you get the idea, and your otherwise knowledge of the word is right.
Bob Koepp,
That is exactly what it is! you are right, and i have always known them as the Juha stories. By the way, Juha is more famous than God. Where did you hangout with Sufis? because i did too.
Horace Jeffery Hodges,
I was typing fast earlier, so here is my edited version:
Funny how your stupid Quran and Hadit’s hateful interpretation, and may i add “odd and senseless”, haven’t got you far. As most people are sick of your “message” and your intelligent officer style and therefore I do not think that you worth a response. After Obama’s speech yesteday, the Radical Jews and Zionist are against the world once again, so how do you feel about that?
Malcolm, chew away! but chew with respect!
“Radical Jews and Zionist (sic) against the world?”
Obviously this poster missed the earlier one on Old Jews Telling Jokes.
George, stop being so bossy. If I didn’t respect what the Mulla Nasrudin stories have to offer, I wouldn’t post them. I’ll respect what I see fit to respect.
Ahmed – Thanks for the reference to Juha — I wasn’t aware of the connection, which shows how little exposure I’ve actually had to Sufi traditions. I’ve never been in circumstances where I could hang out with established Sufi groups. Instead, I’ve just enjoyed the company of a few individuals at different times and in different places. But I was definitely attracted by the irreverant attitude toward reverance that I found with those Sufis I’ve known. I rather like the idea that existence is the punchline of a cosmic joke.
Bob,
Actually the Juha stories are not part of the Sufi tradition as such, but part of the broad Arabic/Islamic/Eastern tradition. Some claim he was Persian[old Persia included some of Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan] where others think he was a Turk or under the Otman empire umbrella, which doesn’t say much. However, all agree that he is part of the Islamic comic tradition; Muslims poking fun of themselves in a way.
I met and hangout with some Sufis here in NY and leaned after reading their lit. that if i were to make a ranking order of religions, i would most likely put Sufism very high up.
Amy, I confess that I still don’t have a clue what you’re referring to. Are you sure that you’re not thinking of somebody else’s comment?
Jeffery Hodges
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Aren’t you the same guy who thinks he is funny: ” How dare you ridicule Islam, you Islamophobe! Watch yourself, for we know where you live. Somewhere in the Milky” for no reason but to comment over the Nasrudin jokes. unless the Nasrudin is code for antiIslam, but that is a fight between you and Malcolm. My question i guess , what prompts to say stuff like that?
Oh, that’s what you’re talking about. I was pretending to be a radical Islamist annoyed at the ‘Islamophobia’ of those who laugh at the Nasrudin humor. Radical Islamists — as you perhaps know — hate laughter, and since Nasrudin is a Muslim (albeit only incidentally), I pretended to be a radical Islamist who totally misunderstood the point of the laughter and took it to be against Islam.
But I don’t see what any of this has to do with my putative interpretation of the Quran or Hadit, which I never even mentioned, nor with Obama’s speech and radical Jews, which I also never mentioned.
Finally, I don’t know what you mean by my “intelligent officer style” that is “not worth a response” — though this didn’t stop you from responding — so I remain by baffled by your comment.
Jeffery Hodges
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Ahmed brought up his ranking of religion. Here are some religious ranks. I didn’t know there were only 14 million jews. I thought there were that many in the jingle biz alone?
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html
Probably the largest misconception about Islam is that — in America at least — it is thought to be a religion from the Middle East, whereas the four largest Muslim countries are all outside the region.
On an even more unrelated religious note, I heartily recommend R. Crumb\’s illustrations of the Book of Genesis, some of which are in the current issue of the New Yorker. You won\’t think of the Book the same way afterwards.
Hello, Mullah, hello fatwa…
Someone recently brought me back a beautifully illustrated book of Nasreddin Hodja stories from Turkey, with a forward giving some history (the Turks definitely claim him as their own, though apparently so do others), and which made me a big Hodja fan. In the book, the stories are equal parts “holy fool” where Hodja says or does something silly, and half of them are stories where his unusual view of the world is used to serve up a witty and wise retort to a fool. In the stories, he’s generally looked up to by his fellow citizens, who come to him as an arbiter in disputes and a sort of all-around wise man. Even his seemingly ridiculous utterances carry a wise message for those who read correctly. He’s well-respected historical figure, and his town (Aksehir) has a Hodja festival every year (5-10 July) – I was wondering if Amy, the poster above, would be my date for it this year… though she seems to have a soft spot for Jeffery. Or maybe that’s just a soft spot, period.
Joe! Welcome aboard. Didn’t know you were looking in. Got quite a chuckle out of me with the Allan Sherman reference…
Amy, there is no “code for antiIslam” here. Relax.
Peter, Islam is a religion from the Middle East, whether or not it has adherents elsewhere. The mihrab does not, after all, indicate the direction to Kalimantan, and there are no hajjis stoning Satan in Kuala Lumpur.
OK, Islam is a religion from the Middle East, but 80% of its adherents are elsewhere.
I wish I had an “intelligent officer style”, even one that is “not worth a response”.
Horace Jeffery Hodges :
why would pretend to be a Radical Muslim? What makes think that they think that way? Isn’t this the classic definition of inciting hate, as there are no visible radical, but only visible Muslims. Take it easy and stop your hate mongering please.
I agree with the the one eyed man ‘Peter’, as Islam is more spiritual outside of the middle east which is the birth place of all Abrahamic religions.
The ‘Mehrab’ is an Islamic association with the Virgin Mary as it is the place where she gave birth to Jesus, So Muslims in their devotion to Jesus named the nicely decorated place in the front of Mosques. It is the center of every Mosque and has no directional value.
Not my understanding at all, Ahmed. Yes, there is an association with Mary, as in Sura 3:37, when Zachariah vists her in her “shrine”, but the niche does customarily indicate the direction of Mecca, no? See here, for example.
So, Jeffery, you’re a hate-monger after all! Who knew? You’ve always seemed so peacable, so affable…
All is now clearly and carefully explained over at my hatemongering blog.
Jeffery Hodges
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You are right! it does “customarily indicate the direction of Mecca”