Thief and saint

Thief and saint

Sir Akif was all by himself and suddenly noticed a shadow of a man who was climbing the wall of a garden and he immediately understood that he was an unexpected guest – a thief! He went downstairs and he locked all the doors except the one which was in front of his bedroom. He took a rope, hid himself behind the door and waited for his unexpected guest!

On the other side, the thief who supposed that the homeowner was already sleeping, noticed an open door and walked in to Sir Akif’s bedroom and immediately he felt a rope around his body! Finally the thief was tied up by the homeowner.

After a while, Akif asked the thief:

“Why did you enter my house without permission?”

The thief was shocked and his reply was clear and honest

“I’m so hungry!”

This time Akif replied to him softly:

“So, come with me downstairs”

He untied the thief and they went to the kitchen. Beside all the food, Akif also put breakfast stuff such as cheese and jam on  the tray and the thief, who was dying of hunger, ate everything on the tray.

But adventure was still going on.

This time the homeowner:

“Son, I will not let you go tonight, you are my guest, take this matress, I will take another, it is time to sleep.”

The thief looked at him with thankful eyes and he could not resist his offer, just obeyed. Soon, they fell asleep.

Akif always woke up before sun rise and noticed that his guest was still sleeping like a baby and woke him up softly.

“Come on son, wake up, do wudhu and lets perform the Salaat (pray).”

This unexpected guest had never prayed before, he saw worshippers many times, he saw people who were going to the mosque but he personally never intended to practise religion except watching worshippers. Especially his grandmother, how purely she was practising.

 And now, a deep voice was inviting him to this forgotten ceremony which was full of joy. He leapt, he felt dizziness of truth which was calling him and he felt  safe and peaceful.

 A while ago he was a thief, he was like a collapsed building after an earthquake and now he was ready to rise! He was ready to build a skyscraper!

 They prasctised together and went to the kitchen again. This time Akif said:

 “Son, everybody likes my halvah (kind of waffle) come, I will cook halvah for you, take it on its tray, sell it and make your own money and come back here to sleep again.”

 He cooked halvah for three days for his guest and then:

 “Well, now you know how to make it. Whatever you need such as oil and sugar you can find it in the cellar. You can cook it, sell it and then you can still come here to sleep.”

 He did, it for 40 years! In other words, he did not leave, he could not. A man who came to this house as a thief was a dervish now and serving Arif, who was a saint. Nobody wondered about his name during those years because they were used to calling him the ‘Halvah Seller’ but when he was old enough, then they began to call him  ‘Grandfather’ And this old man was  so faithful and he was behind all truth! He critisized bad manners and then the people began to call him ‘Poison Pa’.

 Poison Pa served his Saint for 40 years and he closed his eyes as a happy man. 

Source : İbrahim Sıddık İmamoğlu, Büyük Dini Hikayeler (Great Religious Stories), Osmanlı Publ., İstanbul March 1980, p. 196-197.