Remain Happy in the Lord’s Will

There is a story of a king who became a disciple of a dervish. The king, showing love and humility, requested the dervish to stay with him for a while. The pious man accepted his request.

The king would offer food to the holy man first, then eat afterwards himself. One day the king sliced a beautiful watermelon and offered the slices one by one to the holy man. He kept the last slice for himself to eat later. When he started eating the watermelon, he found it to be extremely bitter. He felt very distressed at this and asked the dervish, “Sir, why did you not tell me? You kept eating the extremely bitter watermelon quietly.” The dervish answered, “O king! Why could I not eat a bitter thing for one day from the hand that has been offering me such delicious food everyday? O king! If that Lord, who showers on us such beautiful gifts everyday, gives something that feels bitter to us, we must smilingly accept it because of the love and faith we have for him. I have been staying with you just to explain this. Now that I have done so, I will be on my way.”

The king requested the dervish to stay, as his company would help him act upon this principle. The dervish said that he would teach him the technique to worship the Lord. He explained that as the king practised the technique, he would slowly learn how to remain happy in the Lord’s will. The acceptance of the Lord’s will with love and faith is born from worship of and meditation on his Name.
_{Traditional Sufi story}