Photo by EOD
Everything in creation is eating and being eaten. — Rumi
Step inside one of my favorite restaurants in the Old City of Damascus. As you can see from the photo above, you might never know from this lantern-lit doorway that there’s a lovely restaurant inside–since there’s not even a sign over the door. For me that was part of this restaurant’s charm, when I came across its enticing door, and decided to step inside–to find out where the hallway on the other side might lead…
Photo by EOD
Where it led was to a large courtyard with tables scattered under plants hanging from the balconies above. Several dining rooms were also tucked inside of the decorated walls of this renovated medieval traditional home. Since it was Christmas time, there was also a Christmas tree with a Santa hat on top–as you can see in the photo below.
Just as Ottoman architecture is found throughout Damascus, so too are the stories Sufis have told to dervishes–especially since Ottoman times–to impart a lesson. Hmmmm, what might be the moral of the Sufi story below?
Mehmet II was both a dervish (a member of a Sufi order) and the Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople. One evening, Mehmet was sitting with his Sufi teacher (sheikh), and they were eating rice from the same plate.
His Sheikh said to him, “My Sultan, what you are eating is haram, it is unlawful,” even though they were eating from the same plate.
The Sultan asked, “How is this? We are eating from the same plate. You must be eating unlawful food, too.”
The Shaikh said, “No, what is on my side is halal, it is permissible; what is on your side is unlawful.”
So the sultan said, “Look over there!” and when the Sheikh looked away from the plate, the sultan turned the dish around.
Then they continued to eat. After a while the sultan told the Sheikh what he had done and said, “Now, see, what you are eating is haram (unlawful).”
But the Shaikh said, “No! What you are eating is unlawful, because you have taken it by force, from a conquered country.”
— Sheikh Tosun Bayrak
