Once upon a time there was a king who had only one daughter. She was beautiful and accomplished in every way and famous for her horse riding skills. The king and the princess were keen on acquiring horses. Whenever any merchant presented a pedigreed horse the king would buy it for the asking price.
One day, a merchant brought a white horse to the king who was stunned at his beauty. He had seen thousands of horses but none as appealing as this one. He said to the merchant, ‘We will pay whatever you ask for this horse!’
The merchant folded his hands respectfully, ‘Sire, you are the lord and master. I will accept whatever sum you are gracious enough to give me, but this is a wondrous horse. He does not consume oats or grass like other horses, nor does he drink water. That is why no one wants to buy him. Since I knew that Your Majesty is keen on horses I brought him here!’
The king and his ministers looked astonished and asked, ‘What does he eat?’
The rest of this article is only available to subscribers.
Access our entire archive of 350+ articles from the world's leading writers on Islam.
Only £3.30/month, cancel anytime.
Already subscribed? Log in here.
Not convinced? Read this: why should I subscribe to Critical Muslim?