Author(s): Ali Keyhani; Manoutchehr Keyhani; Shohreh Ebrahimnezad

Sufism

In the year 1215 C.E, Attar, a Sufi master, wrote the story of his beloved teacher, Omar Khayyam, a poet, a mathematician, an astronomer, who made tents for his livelihood. The story goes: I went to visit my teacher, Omar Khayyam, in the city of Neishahpoor. It was a hot, windy springtime when I entered the city. Being distressed over not finding my master's shop, I stopped the mosque preacher to ask for directions. He stared at me in bewilderment and said, "I have never seen him to pray at the mosque. The heretic tentmaker is in the far end of bazaar." By late afternoon, I found my beloved teacher sitting on a stool, threading a tent. His long white hair hung around his shoulders, touching his snow-white beard. I bent to kiss his hand; he pulled me over and kissed my forehead. We drank tea in the yard under a blooming cherry tree. He was serene and calm. He opened his book of verses and read a poem to me: "My love I wish to conspire to grasp your divine intension Why have you created this sorry story of life of thoughts entire? I love to smash it as it never been created to star ashes Then, with your love to remold it to my perfect heavenly heart desire." I sat quiet and kept my gaze on him as he continued: "I wish upon my death, when the north wind blows in the spring, it covers my tomb with white petals," said my Sufi master. This Sufi tale ends with unexpected twist of karmic forces that delights lover of Sufi tales. The Sufi Tale Series presented in English and Persian.