Idries Shah - Book of the Book

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This dervish-king lacked an instrument with which to teach. None came to him until he was almost at the end of his days.

He attributed all his knowledge to a thick tome which was kept in a place of honour in his room. The sage would allow nobody to open the volume. When he died, those who had surrounded him, regarding themselves as his heirs, ran to open the book, anxious to possess what it contained. They were surprised, confused and disappointed when they found that there was writing on only one page. They became even more bewildered and then annoyed when they tried to penetrate the meaning of the phrase which met their eyes.

It belonged to such-and-such a sage, the wonder of the age, now dead. This is all he left behind, and we are unable to fathom its mystery. At first the scholars were delighted to see a work of such size, bearing the name of its former owner, whom they knew to have been revered by multitudes of people. They said: We will of course give you the real interpretation. But when they found that the book was all but empty, and what words there were made no sense to them, they first sneered and then shouted at the students, driving them away in their fury. They believed that they had been victims of a hoax.

That was a time when scholars were limited and literal-minded. They could not imagine a book which could do something, only a book which said something.

They showed that the book was not to be understood in the manner assumed by you, or by them. You may think that they lack depth. But you, in your turn, lack sense. The book was teaching something through the incident itself, while you remained asleep. But the students found this explanation too subtle for their minds, and the only person who maintained the knowledge of the book was a casual visitor to the caravanserai, who overhead the interchange which I have just repeated to you, O King and Dervish! The stranger dressed in green then stood up and walked away.

This was placed in a niche in his treasury and guarded by armed men, day and night. The aged king died and a barbarian conqueror devastated his realm. Breaking into the treasury, this man saw the book in its place of honour and said to himself: This must be the source of the countrys happiness, wisdom and prosperity. He said aloud: Let the book be taken down and read out to me in our own language. But this conqueror, for all his physical power, was an ignoramus; he could make no sense from the words in the book.

It is through his work that its teaching was passed down. Mali opened a shop. He kept copies of The Book of the Book on view, for sale. Nobody was allowed to look inside until he had paid two gold pieces for a copy. Some learned the lesson of the book, and came back to study with Mali. Others wanted their money returned, but Mali always said: I cannot give you back your money until you return me what you have learned from the transaction, as well as the book itself.

Some who preferred mere appearance to inner content, called Mali a deceiver. But Mali told them: You were, all along, seeking deceivers, so you will assume that you have found one in anyone.

Since Ahmed Yasavi, of the Masters of Central Asia, this story has been transmitted for more than seven hundred years. Contents Copyright The Estate of Idries Shah The right of the Estate of Idries Shah to be identified as the owner of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reservedCopyright throughout the world ISBN 978-1-78479-080-6 First published 1969 Published in this edition 2016 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photographic, by recording or any information storage or retrieval system or method now known or to be invented or adapted, without prior permission obtained in writing from the publisher, ISF Publishing, except by a reviewer quoting brief passages in a review written for inclusion in a journal, magazine, newspaper, blog or broadcast. Requests for permission to reprint, reproduce etc., to: The Permissions Department ISF Publishing The Idries Shah Foundation P. O. 1150876