The Story of Jesus, the Devout Man, and the Sinner

I have heard from those who pass down the word that in the days of Jesus, peace be upon him, there was a man who had wasted his life, spending it in ignorance and error. A brazen man with a black record and a hard heart, so foul that even the devil was ashamed of him. He had passed his days with nothing to show, and no one's heart had ever found peace beside him. His head was empty of reason and dignity, his belly swollen with unlawful gains. His skirt was stained with crookedness, blackened with soot from his own worthlessness. No eye like those who look with honesty, no ear like people who listen to advice. People shunned him like a bad-luck year; he seemed to them like the new moon, best seen from afar. Lust and desire had burned his harvest to ash; he had saved not a single grain of good name. So much did the black-recorded man indulge himself that no space was left in his book to write more. A sinner, willful, and a slave to his appetites, night and day careless, drunk, and befuddled. I heard that Jesus came in from the plain and passed by the chamber of a devout worshiper. The recluse came down from his upper room and fell at his feet, his head to the ground. From afar the ill-starred sinner watched, dazzled by their light like a moth. Ashamed, he pondered in grief and regret, like a beggar before a man of wealth. Embarrassed, he whispered his apologies with burning heart, for the nights he had turned into days of neglect. Tears of sorrow poured from his eyes like rain from a cloud: 'My life has passed in heedlessness, what a waste!' 'I have thrown away the precious coin of my life and gained nothing of goodness in my hands.' 'May no one ever live as I have lived, for his death would be far better than his life.' 'Saved is the one who died in childhood, for he never carried shame into old age.' 'Forgive my sin, O maker of the world, for if it goes with me, what a wretched companion it is.' His head hung low from shame, while tears of regret ran down his sides. In this corner the old sinner wept: 'Come to the aid of my state, O helper.' On the other side, the worshiper with a head full of pride frowned at the sinner from afar. 'Why is this doomed man trailing after us? What has this wretched, ignorant fool to do with us?' 'You have fallen headlong into fire, you have thrown your life to the wind of desire.' 'What good ever came from his filthy soul, that he should sit in the company of the Messiah and me?' 'Better he had taken his trouble away from here and gone off to hell to his own business.' 'His ugly face pains me; I fear his fire might fall on me too.' 'On the day of judgment, when all are gathered, God, do not raise me up together with him.' While this was happening, a revelation from the Glorious One came down to Jesus, peace be upon him: 'Whether this one is learned or that one ignorant, the plea of both has come and been accepted.' 'The man of wasted days and ruined fortune wept before me with grief and burning heart.' 'Whoever comes to me in helplessness, I will not cast him from the threshold of my grace.' 'I have pardoned him for his ugly deeds and will bring him into paradise by my bounty.' 'And if the worshiper feels it beneath him to sit beside him in paradise,' 'tell him: on resurrection day, do not be ashamed of him, for that one is carried to heaven and this one to the fire.' 'For that one's heart bled from burning and pain, while this one relied on his own devotions.' 'He did not know that in the court of the Self-Sufficient, helplessness is better than arrogance and self-conceit.' Whoever has clean clothes but a foul character needs no key to hell's door; it stands open for him. At this threshold, your humility and lowliness are better than your worship and self-regard. When you counted yourself among the good, you erred; there is no room for ego in the presence of God. If you are a real man, do not boast of your manhood; not every horseman carries off the winning ball. That talentless man turned out to be all skin, like an onion, though he imagined he had a kernel inside like a pistachio. This kind of worship is worthless; go instead and offer an apology for the flaws in your worship. What difference between a scattered, wretched rogue and an ascetic who makes life hard for himself? Strive in piety, restraint, sincerity, and purity, but do not try to outdo the Prophet. That fool gained nothing from his worship who was good with God but bad with his fellow creatures. Words remain as keepsakes from the wise; from Saadi, remember just this one saying: A sinner who trembles before God is better than a devout man who only makes a show of worship.