Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook
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The Patient One
Mom has a word with the Shaikh. Detail from An Old Woman and Two Sages in a Garden. Bukhara, 1520. Click for complete painting.

Makhdum Alauddin Ali Ahmad Sabir was asked by his Shaikh to distribute free meals to the dervishes from the langar khana. He performed this duty for twelve years but never himself ate from the kitchen. He grew so thin that his mother became worried about it and spoke to Baba Farid. The dervishes told Baba Farid why he was so thin and weak. When Baba Farid asked Alauddin why he appeared to be starving, Alauddin replied, "I was asked to feed the dervishes and not myself." Baba Farid was so happy to hear this reply that he bestowed upon on him the title of Sabir — The Patient One.

Chishti tradition

 
 

from Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook
Copyright © 1999, 2000 by Kathleen Seidel
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