Dividing Things Fairly

On this eve of 9/11, a little wisdom from Islam might be in order.

One day, the Sufi holy man, mystic, and fool, Mulla Nasrudin, was walking through the town when he came upon two children who were arguing with each other. They had found a bag containing twelve marbles, and they were disagreeing about how to divide the toys between them.

When the children asked the wise man to settle the disagreement, the Mulla asked them if he should divide the marbles the way a human would or the way Allah would. The children replied, "We want it to be fair, so divide them the way Allah would."

So the Mulla counted out the marbles and gave three marbles to one child and nine to the other.

(Adapted from The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin, edited by Idries Shah)

Blessings,
Roger