It happened once upon a time that three Sheikhs, having completed a pilgrimage to Mecca, agreed between themselves to now make a journey to Baghdad, so they could make obeisance to the pole of the age, the great Sufi Abdul Qadir Jilani. Accordingly, they found three mule drivers to serve their needs, and set off.

The Sheikhs were pious men, devoted to much prayer and serious discussions of high principles, and hardened to the difficulties of travel. What disturbed them, though, was the unavoidable company of the mule drivers, who were illiterate, inelegant, and showed no reverence for the devotions and vigils of the Sheikhs.

When at last they came in sight of the assembly hall of the saint, the Sheikhs felt a mixture of happy anticipation that they might now glimpse the radiance of his holiness, and relief that they would at last be free of the troublesome company of the mule drivers.

To their surprise, the Saint himself came out to greet them, and without a glance at the mule drivers, brought them in to the hall. This was high honour, and the Sheikhs felt a thought flickering in their minds: perhaps they were being recognised as the legendary ‘three hidden Sheikhs’ of the age!

Later that evening, though, the three Sheikhs happened to see the mule drivers departing the company of the Saint. To their astonishment, as the mule drivers respectfully took their leave, the Sufi bent and kissed their hands, and it came like a flash of lightning to the minds of the Sheikhs that the three hidden ones were not they but the mule drivers.

Hurrying after the drivers, the Sheikhs tried to speak to them, but the leader of them said dismissively, “Get back to your prayers. You have plagued us for thirty-six days with your mumblings, and we want no more of them.”