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                              The story of Moshgel Gosha

 

Friends,

 You may or may not know the story of Moshgel Gosha in the interesting version of Idries

Shah *. Different versions thereof can be found in Iran. You’ll be excited to learn that a

subscriber to the Chishtiyya, Rahim, has translated an unknown version of the story of

Moshgel Gosha directly from Persian for your enjoyment.   

 

 

                                     The story of Moshgel Gosha

 

 

This is the true story of the prophet Moshgel Gosha who saved the life of an

innocent prisoner. Many years ago there was an old man by the name of Abdollah

who lived in abject poverty. With a broken back and pain in his old hands he went

every day to the desert to plant some shrubs in order to to earn some money for

his family. This type of life was very hard and bitter for him and his wife. The

older Abdollah became, the harder his life became.

 

The wife of Abdollah then formulated an inner intention that every Friday

morning before sunrise she would sweep the spot in front of their house and

sprinkle some water on it. In this way she hoped to see the prophet Khezr and to

be blessed by him.

 

Three weeks later, when sprinkling water, she saw an old man with long white

hairs who came to her, saying: ‘Tell Abdollah to remember Moshgel Gosha in

difficult times and continue to do so until your wish has been fulfilled’. As soon as

he had said that, he disappeared. Abdollah’s wife came home and told everything

that took place to her husband. Abdollah told her: ‘This man was Khezr, the

prophet of God. What a pity that you did not ask for anything!’

 

Abdollah used to keep some of the thorns he had taken off the shrubs and store

them in a specific place. He did so to have a quantity thereof for the cold days in

winter. On Friday, once again, he went to the desert. He had little time to cut new

thorns, so he went to the place where he stored these thorns and found out that

everything was gone. Someone had burnt all the thorns. He felt so hopeless and

he was so confused that he burst out into tears. He cried when thinking what a

miserable and bitter life he had. Shortly afterwards someone riding a horse

appeared. The man had a radiant face, he embraced Abdollah and comforted him.

He gave him some sparkling stones and told him: ‘Sell them and use the money

for the maintenance of your family. You should remember me every Thursday

evening’. Then suddenly he disappeared.

 

Abdollah thanked God, put the stones in his basket and went to town. Coming

home he put the stones in the window-sill and told about everything that took

place to his wife and children. When the night came his house the stones were

radiant with light. Abdollah thus found out that the stones were real jauhar-e

shabkherq, precious stones which shine with light in the night. He was so happy

that very night that he could not sleep.

 

When getting up in the morning he hid the stones at a secret place and took one

of them to the bazaar to sell it. A jeweller bought the precious stone at a very high

price. Because of his now being rich he was not only able to buy all kinds of food

for his family, but he was also able to buy a beautiful house, a real palace for

them. There was no need now to go to the desert and collect wood for fuel.

 

A few months later Abdollah decided to go to Mecca. He asked his wife and three

daughters not to forget the story of Moshgel Gosha and to tell it every Thursday

evening.

 

It so happened that when Abdollah had left, the daughter of the king walked past

their palace. She was amazed by its beauty and asked herself how such a

wonderful palace could come about. The princess then decided to meet the

daughters of Abdullah and get acquainted with them.

 

Abdollah’s daughters became friends of the princess, but because of this

friendship they forgot to tell the story of Moshgel Gosha and their father’s advice.

 

One day they went together with the princess to a garden with a swimming pool.

When they were swimming in the water, a raven came and took the golden

necklace of the princess and flew away with it to its nest in a tree.

 

Abdollah’s daughters were the first to come out of the swimming pool and to get

dressed. When the princess put on her clothes she could not find her necklace.

The suspected the daughter’s of Abdollah to have stolen it and told them so. She

even added to it that according to her Abdollah had become a rich man by theft.

 

The king was informed about the missing necklace. He gave the order that the

wife and daughters of Abdollah should be put into jail and that their possessions

should be confiscated. The soldiers of the king also went after Abdollah, arrested

him and likewise he was imprisoned.

 

One night Abdollah dreamed about an old man with a radiant face and a green

habit. This was Khezr. Khezr asked why he had forgotten Moshgel Gosha. That is

why Abdollah asked the guards to buy him some peas and some raisins. He asked

for these things to use them on the first Thursday night after his dream.

 

He collected the prisoners around himself and told them the story of Moshgel

Gosha and he cried a lot. Exactly on the same night the king had a dream in

which he saw Hazrat ‘Ali who ordered him to release Abdollah and his innocent

family. He told the king that the necklace of the princess could be found in the

nest of a raven in a tree.

 

The king awoke with a shock. He ordered to have a look in all nests of ravens in

the surroundings. In this way the necklace was found. The king ordered to release

Abdollah and his family.

 

From that day on - and it lasted until the end of his life - Abdollah was a confidant

of the king and was respected by everyone. Moreover he never forgot to tell the

story of Moshgel Gosha on every Thursday evening.

 

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*  The Story of Mushkil Gusha

 

 

Source

 

 

 

 

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