Socrate Wisdom: the burden of life
The burden of life: a profound reflection on human suffering and acceptance. The wise Socrates has made a great joke that if all the world’s troubles were to be brought together, piled up in one place, and distributed equally among all, those who now consider themselves unlucky would consider this division as trouble and the first trouble as gain.
Another wise man has taken the subject of this joke even further. He says that if we could exchange our troubles, each person would consider his first trouble good.
Sultan of Heaven
I expanded on these two ideas and sat on the pillow of thoughtlessness when sleep came. In my dream, I see an announcement from the Sultan of the Heavens court. The gist is that all the world’s people should bring their sorrows, pains, sufferings, and troubles and pile them up in one place. So, for this purpose, a field that was even wider than the field of thought was proposed, and people started coming. I stood in the middle and enjoyed their spectacle. I watched as one after another came and threw off their burdens, but the burdens that fell became even grander in quantity. Until that mountain of troubles became higher than the clouds.
A man with a mirror
One person was dry and frightened. Due to his thinness, he was only a figure of air, moving very cleverly and quickly in this crowd. He had a mirror in his hand, and his figure seemed very large. He was wearing a loose-fitting garment, the hem of which was tied with the hem of the robe and embroidered with gold. And when it waved in the wind, thousands of strange, poor forms were visible on it.
His eyes were savage, but there was sadness in his gaze, and his name was an illusion. He tied and loaded each person’s burden and took it to the appointed place. When I saw my brothers and sisters of the same sex and appearance groaning under the burdens and thought of the heap of these troubles, I was terrified and felt such pity in my heart that it cannot be described.
Some People alike
In this world, too, some people’s condition appeared so that it slightly amused my heart, and I saw a man bringing a heavy bundle in an old chicken robe. When he threw that bundle into the heap, it became clear that he was in the torment of poverty. Another man was running behind him; sweat was flowing from his body, and he was panting under the heavy load; he also threw that burden on his head. And it became clear that his condition was terrible. He threw it on his head.
Group of love
After them came a large crowd whose number was not counted. It became clear that this was a group of lovers. On their heads were bundles of milk, like arrows in them. And the spears of the Nala were buried. Although these people were groaning in pain from the burden they were carrying, as if their chests were about to burst, the wonder is that when they came to this pile, they could not even throw these burdens off their heads. Some shook their heads with effort.
But they left as they were loaded. Many older adults saw that their bodies were showing wrinkles. Some young people were showing their black complexion and some thick lips. They often showed such crooked teeth that it was embarrassing to see them, but I was surprised that this mountain had the most physical defects. I know a person with the heaviest and largest burden on his back. But he carries it happily. When he came near, it was found that he was a hunchback. And he had come to throw his hunchback into the heap of sorrow and pain of humanity.
Various Kind
According to him, there was no greater misfortune than this. In this pile were various kinds of diseases and ailments, some of which were real and some such that misunderstandings had mistaken them for illnesses. I saw another burden that afflicts the human race. It was a combination of all of them.
No Stupid Behavior
Many handsome young men came carrying the earnings of their hands, that is youth diseases. But I was surprised by only one thing: no stupidity or lousy behavior was seen in such a large pile. I used to watch these spectacles and say to myself that if there were any relief from spiritual support, physical weakness, and intellectual defects, there would be no better opportunity than this.
Thoughtful of future
I wish it would come soon and throw it away. In the meantime, I saw a reveler walking carelessly carrying the burden of his sins. He also threw a bundle, but when I saw it, I realized that in exchange for his sins, he had thrown away his thoughtfulness about the future. Along with him came a group of martyrs. I thought they would throw away their shortsightedness, but instead, they threw away their shame and modesty.
Wise Man
When all the human beings had shed their burdens, the wise man, who had been busy with this business until now, saw me standing apart and thought that this person was empty. So, with this thought in mind, I bent towards me and saw him coming towards me. My senses were blown away, but he immediately held up his mirror before me.
I found my face so tiny in it that I was involuntarily startled. In contrast to his body and height, I saw such a broad forehead that I was disgusted and so frightened that I took off my face like a mask and threw it away. And I realized that a person had taken off his face, considering it large and unfit for his body. Their face was enormous, so his nose was as big as mine.
The Illusion of Life: Reflections on Mortality
Prophecy and Calamities
We watched this prophecy and the calamities and eagerly waited for each and every word of this world of monsters. An order came from the court of the Sultan of the heavens that now everyone has the right to change their own sorrows and pains as they wish, take their own burdens, and go home.
Mian Wahm
Hearing this, Mian Wahm became ready again and then, with great haste, started to tie and distribute the burdens of this great heap. Everyone started to take their own burdens, and there was such a commotion and jostling that it was beyond description. Therefore, I will describe a few things I saw then.
An older man who seemed very respectable and honorable suffered from a stomachache and wanted an heir for his property due to childlessness. He threw away the pain above and took a beautiful young boy, but the helpless boy was abandoned by his father due to disobedience and arrogance.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived, this incompetent young man immediately grabbed the older man by the beard and prepared to break his head. By chance, the boy’s birth father appeared, who was now suffering from a stomachache. So the old man said to him, “For God’s sake, take away my stomachache and take your son, for my first punishment is a thousand times better than this.” But the problem was that he could not exchange it again.
An enslaved person
There was an enslaved person who was enslaved who, tired of the pain of imprisonment and the labor of the ship, had left this punishment and had taken the disease of the swing. He was seen walking two steps and sitting down, holding his head.
In other words, many people were trapped in their situation and regretted their actions. For example, a sick person had become poor and was angry with him. Someone did not feel hungry; he was now beating his stomach with hunger. One person, tired of worry, had left him; now he was beating his liver, and so on. In other words, seeing each person gained a lesson and regret.
The Power of Hope: A Journey Through Faith, Struggle, and Resilience
Torment of Changes
The women were tormented by their changes. Some had lost their white hair, but now a boil had formed in their feet, making them limp and moan. Some had previously had a slim waist, but since their chest and arms were also thin, they had lost their slim waist. Now, they had a big body with round breasts.
Some had gained a beautiful face, but with it came the stain of dishonor and the stigma of infamy. In short, no one among them did not find the new defect more serious than the previous defect. Seeing the conditions of all of them, I understood that the troubles that befall us are actually according to our ability to bear them, or rather, we become accustomed to them as we endure them.
An old man
I felt very sorry for the older man, who had become a handsome and elegant young man. But a stone had formed in his bladder, so he could not walk straight even now. I also felt sorry for the young man’s condition as he kept falling, leaning on the wood. His back was bent, his neck was bent, his head was high, and the women who had previously sacrificed their lives for his beauty were all around him.
He looked at them, and his water ran out. When I explained the exchange of all, I should not go through my exchange without a trace, so his condition that the big-faced friend began to look so ugly with my small face that when I looked at him, it was even my face. But I laughed involuntarily so that my appearance also deteriorated, and it was clear that the boy was ashamed of my laughter, but I also had no place for pride in my condition.
The Other Men
When I started to ask for forgiveness from my forehead, my hand could not reach there. My face had become so big that there was nowhere to place my hand and nowhere to go. My nose had become so big that when I ran my hand over my face, my hand hit my nose several times. I had two other men with me whose conditions it was necessary to make fun of.
One was a man who used to walk with a limp due to the fatness of his legs. He had exchanged them for a pair of sandals in which the shins were not visible. Whoever saw them both laughed. One of them looked like he was walking on two cats; his head was like he was flying in the air, and the other one was like he was walking in two circles on both sides. Seeing this strange condition of the poor man, I said, “Mian, if you walk ten steps straight, you will feed the herds of sheep.”
The Power of Free Thoughts: Why Every Opinion Matters in Society
Final Thought
The crowd
So, the whole crowd was divided into men and women. But the people were in such a pitiful state. They were disgusted with life and were running around under their burdens. The whole field was filled with wailing, wailing, and lamentation.
Sultan of Heaven Took Pity
Finally, the Sultan of the Heavens took pity on the painful condition of the twenty-two human beings and ordered them to take off their burdens and throw them away since they would already have their burdens. Everyone happily removed these burdens from their cold necks and threw them away.
Banished of Illusion
Meanwhile, another order came that the evil devil who had deceived them, the illusion, should be banished from here. In his place, an angel of mercy descended from heaven. His movements and postures were very reasonable and dignified, and his face was grave and handsome. He repeatedly raised his eyes to the sky and, trusting in the mercy of God, fixed his gaze on it.
The Shrinking
His name was patience and forbearance. He had just come and sat down near the mountain of trouble, which began to shrink. Until it was reduced to one-third, he started giving each person the real and obligatory burden and explained to them that they should not be afraid and should carry it with patience. Each person took it and went home satisfied. At the same time, he used to pay his respects, and with your grace, I did not have to choose my burden from this endless pile.