A Sufi master was visited by a perplexed Seeker-after-Truth, who said to him:
'I have only one question to ask. Why is it that, wherever I go, I always seemed to get different pieces of advice from Sufis?'
The master answered:
'Come with me for a walk through this town, and we shall see what we can discover about this mystery.'
They went into the market - place, and the Sufi asked a greengrocer:
'Tell me, what time of prayer is it?'
The greengrocer said:
'The time for the morning prayer.'
They continued their walk. After some time the
Sufi asked a tailor:
'What prayer-time is it?'
The tailor answered:
'It is the time of the midday prayer.'
After spending more time in conversation and companionship with the Seeker, the Sufi approached another man, this time a bookbinder.
He asked him:
'What time of prayer is it?'
The man replied:
'It is now the time of the afternoon prayer.'
The Sufi turned to his companion and said:
'Do you want to continue the experiment, or are you now satisfied that virtually the same question can elicit almost totally different answers, all of them corresponding to the current truth?'
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