Paloma, Justine Mae C. ENGL 3043 I.

Background of the literary piece

ABE 2-1 Prof. Ferrer

Only a very few Sufi tales, according to Halqavi (who is the author of The Food of Paradise) can be read by anyone at any time and still affect the Inner consciousness constructively. Sufi tale is an opinion lessening form of Islamic heresy that stresses poetry and reasonable tolerance of people's differences. It values inner quality above external piety. The protagonist is often regarded as an 'Idiot', one of the appellations dervishes use in describing their Divine Madness. He also represents the excesses of the clerical or literal mind. Almost all others, he says, depend upon where, when and how they are studied. Thus most people will find in them only what they expect to find: entertainment, puzzlement, allegory. Yunus, son of Adam, was a Syrian, and died in 1670. He had remarkable healing powers and was an inventor. II. Summary

A child of Adam named Yunus decided to search for the means and reason of the provision of goods for man and learn about how and why. So he traveled to the countryside and decided that he will not provide for himself nor will he let anyone but God provide for him. So he fell asleep, certain that when he wakes up, there will be a sustenance coming from God/Allah. A whole day passed and no sustenance appeared. Yunus decided that it was just a test and that all will be fine soon, so he said his fifth prayer and went to rest. The next morning, when he

woke up, he found a halwa across the river full of sweet smelling and health-giving food. But Yunus wanted to make sure that it was really divine intervention who gave him the sweet smelling gift so he waited three more days and at the same hour, he saw another halwa full of the same amount and kinds of goods. So he concluded that it was indeed coming from Allah and he want to impart this newly discovered phenomena. But he realized that he doesn't have the true knowledge and has only experienced it so he decided to seek where his so called "food of paradise" originates. While thinking of what to do next, Yunus saw a tall man was standing before him, he asked him about the castle and the man did not only informed him about the happenings inside the castle but also gave the Wazifa used to summon the invisible powers of the benevolent Jinns, the creatures of fire, who alone can combat the magical forces which hold the castle locked. Yunus practiced this Wazifa for days and one evening he saw the very beautiful princess of the castle put a halwa on a rock across the river. And there stood his source of bounty, so he decided that he would talk to the princess to know about why she is doing such a wonderful thing. The commander of Jinns helped him get to the castle and the Jinns servitors helped him get through it. Yunus then crossed the bridge going to the castle and finally found and talked to the princess. The princess thanked Yunus for freeing her from the locked castle and as a reward would tell him the truth about the halwa. The princess told him that the halwa was meant to be thrown away since it is composed of the residue of the cosmetic materials with which she rubs herself every day. III. Theme or moral of the story

The moral of the story would be the idiom, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." The residue of the princess's daily toiletries is garbage to her and unreusable so she throws them away. but for a man like Yunus who waits for someone or something to provide for him, that packet of halwa is not full of used milk baths but good and life giving food. IV. Highlights or main points of the story The first scene in the story that really caught my attention was when Yunus didn't get any sustenance for one whole day but all he did was pray and convince himself that having no food for that day was only a test and that all will be well soon. I think that if he was not as patient, determined and faithful as he was in the story, he would have given up the whole quest. I think one of the highlights of the story was when Yunus found the princess putting the halwa on a piece of rock across the river. He described the princess as a beautiful maiden but what I didn't understand is why he didn't approach the princess right then and there. I think that if he did, he would have known the secret of the halwa and didn't have to go through all the trouble going through the booby trapped castle. The best and most memorable part of the tale for me was the ending. When Yunus finally found where the halwa is really coming and what is it made of and still stayed calm about it and just replied to the princess "...the understanding of a man is conditional upon his capacity to understand. For you, the remains of your daily toilet. For me, the Food of Paradise." V. Reaction 1. Do you agree or disagree?

I agree to the moral and concept of the story. Many of us are really unaware that what we are throwing maybe usable and beneficial to others and if we just be more sensitive to the environment that we are living, we can help others by giving them stuffs that we may not be needing anymore. 2. Other comments I have seen another version of this story, with different names of characters and different ending. According to the ending of the other version that I have skimmed, Yunus married the princess and they lived happily ever after. In my opinion, I think that the tale would have been a little bit more interesting if Yunus indeed married the princess. It would give the tale the little amount of romantic mood that other readers would like. 3. How do you find truth in the piece? The truth in the piece can be seen in our daily lives. As the moral of the story states, "one
man's trash is another man's treasure."

Those who have more and

unconsciously ditch some of the things in their lives that can be useful to others can relate to the princess. And for those who pick other's garbage and turn into gold can relate to Yunus.