THE WISE CALIPH

The caliph Haroon - Rasheed was known and respected for his justice and wisdom.At night He would disguises  himself as a common man and go through.the streets of Baghdad. He would mingle with the common people in order to gain first-hand knowledge of their difficulties and problem.

One day, when he was holding court, two men men were brought before him. One of them was well-dressed and appeared to be a well-to-do, respectable citizen, while the other seemed to be a beggar, because he was in rags. these two men were holding between them a beautiful white horse. The Qazi approaches the Caliph and said to him: " O Leader of the Faithful! I've brought before you a dispute which I could not settle. It is a difficult case, but I am certain that with your knowledge and wisdom. you will pronounce a just decision.

        "What is the dispute?" asked the Caliph.

       "These two men here are fighting over this horse. Each one of them claims "

       " Step forward,"the Caliph ordered the well-dressed man, "and let's here what you've to say."

The man said to the Caliph:  "O Leader of the Faithful! I beg to believe me that whatever I say in your presence shall be the truth. This morning, when I was riding to the city, I saw this beggar limping along ahead of me, on hearing the sound of my horse's hoofs, he turned round and motioned to me to stop. I pulled the reins of my horse. He begged me to give him a ride up to the gate. He was lame, I felt sorry for him. So I pulled him up behind me on the horde. When we reached the city gate, I stopped and turned round to help him get down. He refused to dismount. I was puzzled, and gently told him to get down because we had reached the city gate. He said, "Why should I get down? I gave you a ride and now you want to rob me of my horse?"

        Then the beggar limped forward and said: "O Leader of the Faithful! You are the helper and guardian of the poor. You are a wise and just Caliph, Have pity on me and save me from the injustice of this rich man. I can swear that this horse belongs to me. You must be thinking, like everybody else in this court, how a beggar like me can afford to buy and keep such a fine horse. it is because of this horse that I am rags, Whatever money I had, I spend on this horde. This morning, as I was coming to the city on my horse, I noticed this man walking along the road, When I came close to him he stopped me and requested to lend him my horse, for he was in a great hurry to react the city. Of course, I could not lend my horse to a complete stranger. Could I? Instead, I let him ride my horse, while I sat behind him. As we reached the city gate? he asked me to get down and leave the horse to him. 'Such a fine horse should not belong to a beggar,' he said. 'Now, be off and don't you mention it to any one. And even if you do, nobody is going to believe you. now, I beg you to save me from robber and restore to me what is my own."