Tasawwuf And Self-Discipline

stopped at a place to rest. There were many trees there. The next morning, a flock of doves came flying in and started circling around the tree under which the elder was resting. These doves were making sounds as if they were protesting against something. When the elder saw the doves in this condition, he turned toward them and asked the reason for their protest. The leader of the doves replied that one of your disciples has done something deceitful to us, and we are protesting against that. He said: One of our pigeons was resting in the shade of the tree when one of your disciples targeted it with a slingshot, shot it down, and then slaughtered it. The elder called that disciple and asked him about the complaint from the doves. The disciple replied: “Hazrat, I have done nothing wrong. These animals were made lawful for our food by God. It is allowed for us to hunt them. So, if I killed a dove and slaughtered it, then what wrong have I done?” The elder conveyed this reply to the leader of the doves. He said: “Our complaint is not what you and your disciple think. Our protest is that you people came here in the appearance of Sufis. We felt secure because we thought we were in the presence of Sufis, from whom we had nothing to fear. If you had come in the appearance of hunters, we would have made arrangements to protect ourselves, just as we do with others.”