Death

There is a haunting story about a wealthy merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to the market place one morning. There the servant saw the figure of death moving among the people. Death seemed to look at him very menacingly and the servant became panic stricken. He rushed home and begged his master to give him a horse so that he might leave Baghdad to escape death. He wanted to flee to a city called Samara. The merchant had pity on his servant and gave him his fastest white Arabian horse. And the servant immediately galloped off for Samara. Later that day, the merchant himself went to the marketplace where he too saw the vision of death. He approached the figure and asked him why he had stared so threateningly at his servant that morning. Death said to the merchant, “That was not a threatening look. It was a look of surprise. I was surprised to see that man in the City of Baghdad.…