The Suhrawardi Order was one of the most famous and ancient one among the Sufi Orders and the philosophers of the Order taught their lessons through these stories. Almost all the important and prominent Sufi saints of the Suhrawardi Order depicted different types of intellectual stories to their disciples from time to time.
Followings are some of the most important and knowledgeable stories of Suhrawardi Order:
Ben Yusuf the Carpenter
This story is about a carpenter named Nazar Ben Yusuf, who spent all his spare time for many years in studying ancient books. He especially studied the books that contained many half-forgotten pieces of knowledge. Yusuf had a faithful servant, who used to help him in all his works. One day Yusuf said to his servant that he had attained the age where he should use the ancient sciences for ensuring his continued existence. He added that he therefore wanted the servant to help him in carrying out a process that will rejuvenate Yusuf and also make him immortal. Saying this, Yusuf explained the entire process to his servant.
However, the servant was not quite willing to carry the process out, at first, as he was required to dismember Nazar and put him in a huge barrel filled with certain liquids. When, the servant told that he could not kill him, Yusuf argued with him and said that he must do that, as he will die in any case and the servant will be bereaved. He ordered the servant to take a sword and stand guard over the barrel, without telling anybody what he was really doing. Yusuf also told the servant to open the barrel and let him out, after twenty-eight days. Yusuf further said that he would regain his youth, once the entire process is completed.
After being assured by Yusuf about the success of the process, the servant agreed and started the process. However, the servant started to feel very much uncomfortable, after a few days, due to his loneliness and he had some doubts in his mind, as well. He also started to become accustomed to a bit strange role, where people regularly came to the house and when they asked for his master, he had to reply that Yusuf was not there at that moment. However, the people soon became suspicious and the representatives of the authorities also arrived, within a few days. They suspected that the servant had done something with Yusuf and said that they would search the house. They also said that if they find nothing, then they would take the servant into custody on suspicion. They further threatened the servant that it was also possible that you would not be released until his master reappears.
To this, the servant got scared and also got confused about what to do, as only twenty-one days had passed by that time. He then decided that he will have to do something quickly and he requested the authorities to leave him in the room with the barrel for a few minutes. He also assured them that he would be ready to go with them after that. With the consent of the authorities, the servant went into the room and took the top off the barrel. As soon as he opened the barrel, a small man exactly similar to Yusuf came out of the barrel and started to run around saying that it was too soon. The little being also got vanished into the air, within no time. The servant was arrested by the officers when he came out of the room and Yusuf was never seen again.
The Girl Who Came Back from the Dead:
This is a well known story that involves an extremely beautiful girl and her three lovers. In the ancient times, the girl lived in a village and she was liked by all the villagers for her beauty, loveliness and also the delicacy in her nature. She was the daughter of a good man and when she got into marriageable age, three equally talented and promising young men approached her for marriage. Seeing that all the men had the same merit and eligibility, the father got confused and left the final choice to the girl. However, the girl was also confused and she could not make up her mind, though months had already been passed.
All of a sudden, one day the girl fell ill and died within a few hours. All the three young men got shocked with this and they together took her body to a cemetery and buried it in the deepest of silent agony. Once the burial was completed, the first young man did not return from the graveyard and made it his home. He started spending his nights there in sorrow and meditation, and he was completely unable to understand the workings of the fate that had taken her away. The second young man also left his home and started roaming all over the world in search of knowledge, as a fakir. The last young man stayed back with the father of the girl and spent his time in consoling the bereaved father.
While travelling around, the second young man came across a certain place, where a man of repute in uncanny arts resided. With a view to continue his search for knowledge, the young man went to the person`s house, as soon as he got to know about him. The host greeted him and invited him to eat. However, when the young man was about to start the meal, a small child in the house started to cry and the sage suddenly picked up the boy and threw him into a fire. To this, the young man got angry and started to leave the house blaming the old man as an infamous demon.
Hearing the curses of the young fakir, the old man came to him and asked him to not to think of it. He said that simple things may appear otherwise when there is an absence of knowledge. After saying this, the old man recited a formula and waved something strange. To the great astonishment of the young fakir, the boy walked out of the fire, without any harm. Seeing this, the fakir memorised the formula and also the design of the strange thing and started for coming back to the girl`s village, in the next morning. Going to the cemetery, the young man wasted no time in reciting the formula and waving the strange thing and soon, the beautiful girl was fully restored to life. The girl went back to her father and the youths started to challenge each other about which of them had earned her hand.
The first young man said that he had been living in the graveyard, and kept his contact with the girl, through his vigils, and also guarded her spirit`s needs for earthly support. The second said that both of the other men were ignoring the fact that it was him, who actually travelled the world in search of knowledge, and who eventually brought the girl back to life. Hearing all these, the third young man argued that he had mourned for her, and like a husband and son-in-law, he had lived there, consoled the father and also helped with his upkeep. All the three young men then went to the girl and appealed to her. Hearing their appeals, the girl replied that the man, who found the formula to restore her, was actually humanitarian. She said that the person, who looked after her father, actually acted as a son to him. Finally, she told that the person, who stayed beside her grave, acted like a lover and so, she would marry the third person.
Three Candidates:
Once upon a time, there were three men, who went to the circle of a Sufi and sought admission to his teachings. However, as the Sufi was of erratic behaviour, one of the men got angry and instantly detached himself from the master. On the instructions of the Sufi, one of his disciples told the second man that the sage was a fraud and hearing this, the second man also withdrew very soon. The Sufi allowed the third man to talk. However, he did not offer any kind of teaching to the man for such a long time that the man eventually lost his interest and also left the circle.
Once all the three men were gone, the Sufi started to give lessons to his disciples about the three men. He said that the first person was actually an illustration of the principle and suggested his disciples not to judge fundamental things by sight. The Sufi said that the second was in fact an illustration of the injunction and hence, his followers should not judge things of deep importance by hearing. He again said that the third person was a perfect example of the dictum. He also told his disciples that they should never judge by speech or the lack of it. After hearing all these, one of his disciples asked the Sufi about why he did not instruct the applicants in this manner. To this, the Sufi replied that he was there to impart higher knowledge and not for teaching something, what people pretend that they already know.
