Story 5

In the life of Ardashir Babakan it is told that he asked an Arab sage: how much food should one eat in a day? The sage said: a hundred dirhams by weight is enough. The king asked: what strength can so little give? The sage said: this amount carries you, and whatever you eat beyond it, you become its carrier. In other words, this much keeps you on your feet, and anything more than this you are merely hauling around. Eating is for living and for remembering God; but you believe that living is for the sake of eating.