There are many stories of Nasr Eddin, the “wise fool” at the centre of Sufi
lore of a thousand years past. In one of these, he spent his life trading across
a border post. Each day he’d walk to and fro with his donkeys, carrying bags
heavily laden with wool. The border guards were convinced he was smuggling
something, but no matter how much they searched, they could never discover
anything at all. After many years Nasr Eddin retired, and by this time, the
guards, long retired themselves, asked him to tell all. “We knew you were
smuggling something Nasr Eddin, but what was it?” they asked. “Oh that’s
very simple”, he replied. “I was smuggling donkeys”.