The Tale of the Four Dervishes

When the great thirteenth century Sufi teacher Nizamuddin Awliyya was ill, this allegory was recited to him by his disciple Amir Khusru, the eminent Persian poet. On his recovery, Nizamuddin placed a benediction on the book, and it is widely believed that the recitation of this story will restore the health of the ailing. The allegorical dimensions it contains are part of a teaching-system intended to prepare the mind for spiritual development.