Here is a famous story I’ve chosen
to retell:
Near the River Indus lived a wealthy
Persian named Ali Hafed. He owned orchards, grain fields, gardens, and had
money at interest. He was content because he was wealthy—and wealthy because he
was content.
One day, an ancient Buddhist priest
visited him and told Ali Hafed that a single diamond the size of his thumb
could buy a county, and a whole mine could place his children on thrones
through great wealth.
That night, Ali Hafed went to bed a
poor man—not because he had lost anything, but because he grew discontented,
fearing he was poor. He said to himself, “I want a mine of diamonds,” and lay
awake all night.
At dawn, he asked the priest, “Where can I find diamonds?”
The priest replied, “Find a river running through white sands between high
mountains; you will find diamonds there.”
Ali Hafed sold his farm, entrusted
his family to a neighbor, and set off to find diamonds. He traveled from the
Mountains of the Moon to Palestine, then Europe. Eventually, penniless and
broken, he stood on a shore in Spain and in despair, drowned himself
Meanwhile, the man who bought Ali
Hafed’s farm led his camel to drink from a garden brook. As the camel dipped
its nose, the man spotted a strange stone shining with all the colors of the
rainbow. He took it inside and forgot about it.
Days later, the priest visited, saw
the stone, and shouted, “Here is a diamond! Has Ali Hafed returned?” “No,” replied the man, “we found this in our
own garden.”
“Trust me, that is a diamond,” said
the priest.
Together they stirred the white
sands of the garden brook—and uncovered a rich diamond mine: the legendary
Golconda, source of some of the world’s most famous gems.
Sometimes we search far and wide for treasures, not realizing the riches we
seek are already in our own backyard. Look closer—you might be sitting on your
own acre of diamonds.
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