Page 152 - The Book of Rumi

The Large Turban

he size of a turban in the old days was indicative of a man’s valor
Tand stature in his society. In one small town, there was a middle-aged
teacher who didn’t have a bean to his name and went hungry most days, but
he was too proud to admit his destitution to his associates. He regularly
collected scraps from fabric shops, discarded wads of cotton, and cut-off
pieces of people’s unwanted cloaks, stuffi ng them into his modest turban
to make it look more substantial. With time, his old and dirty turban came
to resemble a sultan’s silk headdress, fooling everyone in school and buying
him much respect in town.
His students never thought for a moment that their revered master was
not who he pretended to be, and the townsfolk didn’t have a clue that when
they bowed to his apparent opulence in the street, they were honoring an
imposter. Only he knew that his good reputation was based on false pre-
tenses—that, in fact, it was nothing but a big lie.
One early morning before sunrise, the teacher left his home and began his
daily walk to school, preparing the morning lesson in his head. Unbeknown
to him, a lowly thief was hiding behind a pillar around the corner, waiting for
his chance. As soon as he caught site of the oversized, ornate headdress of the
teacher, he thought that his opportune moment had arrived. It was well known
among thieves that people of means generally hid their money and jewels in
their turbans to keep them out of plain sight.
The thief waited patiently, confi dent that he could easily overcome the
scrawny man coming his way and eagerly anticipated his moment of victory.
As the teacher approached, in the blink of an eye the thief knocked the tur-
ban off his head, picked it up swiftly, and ran off with it. The teacher was
confused at fi rst and couldn’t gain his bearings, but soon he realized what had
happened and then chased after the thief.
“You good-for-nothing!” he screamed after him. “Look inside that tur-
ban fi rst before you rejoice! You’ll soon fi nd out what you’ve achieved! Noth-
ing! There’s absolutely nothing worthwhile inside!” he loudly confessed.

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