There is an ancient Sufi saying that a precious gold coin can sometimes be recovered with the help of

a penny candle, meaning that sometimes the profoundest

truths are best illuminated through simple

stories. So it is with the legendary stories of Mulla

Nasruddin, Islam's great comic foil. Timeless and

placeless, the mythical Mulla is a village simpleton

and sage rolled into one, whose wisdom stories

emanate from a source beyond book learning, and

contain several layers of meaning.

In this first-of-its-kind presentation of the

Mulla's teachings, Imam Jamal Rahman weaves

together spiritual insights with the Mulla's stories

and connects them to the issues at the heart of the

spiritual quest. Addressing such topics as human

vulnerability, the rigors of inner and outer spiritual

work, the hazards of the ego and more, he roots

the Mulla's stories in Islamic spirituality by pairing

them with sayings from the Qur'an, the Prophet

Muhammad, Rumi, Hafiz and other Islamic sages.

Together, these sources awaken readers' spirits

with laughter and inspire them to transform themselves

and the world around them