Baghdad… long back, it was the city of gardens, riches and peace. The reign of Caliph Harun al Rashid Rashid, they say, it was the golden times of Iraq… A beautiful maid was recruited for house keeping in the Royal Palace. She was from a very poor family and her only asset was her beauty. She knew that better than anyone.One day, around noon, she entered into the King’s bed room. For the first time in her life, she watched the most expensive things in the world. Deep in her mind, she made a quick comparison
between the King and her. ‘Sad, I am just a broom stick’, she sighed. She started cleaning everything and at last she was busy replacing the Silk bed covers.

'O! God! How smooth is this bed!'
That bed was made up of the feathers of Royal Swans. She had an uncontrollable wish… just to lie on that… Poor girl looked around… O, none was there in the vicinity.
The Caliph, returned after a long session in the court, was shocked to see his maid in deep sleep,
that too on his expensive bed. He slapped on her face in uncontrollable anger. She cried aloud in
pain… Her red cheek started swelling… She then started laughing madly…
Strange woman…. the King thought… crying and laughing…
‘Why did you laugh? If you don’t say, I will cut your throat’, he pulled out the sword.
‘Pardon me… Your Majesty… You punished me with such a slap, just for sleeping only once on
this bed. Everyday you sleep on this bed… I couldn’t control my laughter… just by thinking… how
many more slaps will be reserved for you by Allah!'
Harun al Rashid left the palace on the very day and later he became a Sufi.
Abdul, a boy of seventeen, was busy reading the story from the text book of a school girl sitting
next to him in that crowded bus. Some how, he managed the bus stop in the midst of that desert.
He sat under the cool shade of a date-palm tree… One ripe date fell on his lap…
'Grace of Allah… '
He put that date in his mouth. The timer on his belt bomb was busy running down 60..59..58…57…
56…55…
‘You are that eternal sweetness’, the desert breeze murmured in his ears.