Shaqiq of Balkh was a merchant and a pious Muslim. Once he went to Turkestan on a trading expedition, bringing a caravan of pack animals laden with goods. On the way, he stopped near a temple, and went to investigate.

In the temple, Shaqiq found a man humbly prostrating before a stone idol.

“Have some shame!” Shaqiq told the man. “You have a living God who is omniscient and omnipresent. Worship Him! Do not offer prayers to a stone that does neither good nor evil.”

“If what you say is true,” the man replied, “then why do you travel so far seeking your sustenance? Can your God not provide for you in your own city?”

And from this moment, Shaqiq began to change. The next day he turned the caravan back towards home, and subsequently became a student of the Sufi path. In time, he gained fame for his generosity and especially for his unwavering trust in the providence of God.