The Story of Enduring an Enemy for the Sake of a Friend

There was a man with a simple, open heart like Saadi's, one who had fallen for a beautiful face. He bore cruelty from a harsh, sharp-tongued enemy; like a ball, he was struck by the polo mallet of hardship. He never furrowed his brow at anyone, never turned on a friend with anger. Someone said to him: Have you no shame? Don't all these slaps and stones mean anything to you? Only the base let low people trample their bodies; only the weak endure an enemy's abuse. You shouldn't let an enemy's insult pass, or people will say you had neither courage nor manhood. The lovesick, distracted man gave him an answer worthy of being written in gold. My heart is nothing but a home for my beloved's love; there is no room in it for hatred of anyone. How well the blessed-natured Bahlul spoke when he passed by a quarrelsome mystic: If this pretender truly knew the Friend, he wouldn't waste himself fighting enemies. If he had any real knowledge of God's existence, he would see all creation as nothing beside it.