Three Travelers Tell Their Dreams

Reprinted from "The Soul of Rumi" with permission of HarperSanFrancisco.

Three devout men of different religions fall in together
by chance traveling. They stop

at a caravanserai where the host brings as a gift a sweet
dessert, some taste of God's

nearness. This is how people out in the country serve
strangers. The Jew and

the Christian are full, but the Muslim has been fasting all
day. The two say, "Let's

save it for tomorrow." The one, "No. Let's save self-denial
for tomorrow!" "You want it

all for yourself!" "Divide it into three parts, and each can
do as he wants." "Ah,

but Muhammed said not to share." "That was about dividing
yourself between sensuality

and soul. You must belong. to one or the other." But finally,
for some reason, he gives in,

"I'll do it your way." They refrain from tasting. They sleep,
and then wake and dress themselves

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