[a/]THE NIGHTINGALE IN THE MOSQUE
There was once a Sultan who was so pious and devout that he spent many hours every day in prayer.
"For the glory of Allah," he thought to himself, "I ought to build the most beautiful mosque in the world."
So he called together the finest artisans in the country and told them what he wanted. He spent a third of his riches on the undertaking, and when the mosque was finished everybody said:
"See now, our Sultan has built the most beautiful mosque in the world for the greater glory of Allah!"
On the first day when the Sultan went to pray in the new mosque, a Dervish who was sitting cross-legged at the entrance spoke to him in a droning sing-song voice and said:
"Nay, but your mosque is not yet beautiful enough! There is something it lacks and your prayers will be unavailing!"
The words of the holy man grieved the Sultan and he had the mosque torn down and another built in its place even more beautiful.
"This is certainly the most beautiful mosque in the world!" the people said, and the Sultan's heart was very happy on the first day as he went in to pray.