But again the Dervish, seated at the entrance, said to him in his droning, sing-song voice:
"Nay, but your mosque is not yet beautiful enough! There is something it lacks and your prayers will be unavailing!"
At the holy man's words the Sultan had the second mosque torn down and a third one built, the most beautiful of them all. But when it was finished for a third time the Dervish droned out:
"Nay, but your mosque is not yet beautiful enough! There is something it lacks and your prayers will be unavailing!"
"What can I do?" the Sultan cried. "I have spent all my riches and now I have no means wherewith to build another mosque!"
He fell to grieving and nothing any one could say would comfort him.
His three sons came to him and said:
"Father, is there not something we can do for you?"
The Sultan sighed and shook his head.
"Nothing, my sons, unless indeed you were to find out for me why my third mosque is not the most beautiful in the world."