Soul Stories #23: The Thief Caught by Love

A desert father and mystic of the Christian tradition called Abbot Anastasius had a rare book of the Bible worth 18 precious coins that often carried with him. One day, a man visited the Abbott, and when his eyes fell on the special book, he decided to steal it. The Abbot saw the man take the book, but did not send any monks after the man for fear that the thief would add perjury to his sin of theft.

The thief went to a nearby town, looking to sell the book for what he hoped would be a small treasure. He asked one rare book collector for 16 precious coins at which the buyer said, “Lend me the book for the day so that I may acquire of its worth.” The buyer then visited, of all people, the holy Abbott Anastasius, handing him the stolen book as he asked, “Dear father, may you take a look at this golden book and give me your opinion. Do you think it’s worth buying it for 16 precious coins?” The Abbott smiled as he replied, “Yes my friend, it is surely a beautiful and fine book and I believe that it is worth even more than that.”

The buyer then returned back to his town and offered the man the 16 coins he asked for. Before the thief gave him the book something inside of him urged him to ask, “I’m curious, how did you assess the value of such a unique book?”

The buyer said, “I went to my friend, the Abbot Anastasius, and asked for his advice.” The man began to quiver with fear as he asked, “And he didn’t say anything else when he saw the book? He just told you it was a worthy purchase?” The buyer smiled and said, “Yes, that’s all he said.” These words shattered something in the thief as he felt the profound love and mercy of the Abbot break his heart open. He told the buyer, “I cannot sell you this book.”

The man ran without stopping to the town of Abbot Anastasius. He fell at the desert father’s feet and begged for his forgiveness and begged that he take the book back. The Abbot responded with kind eyes, “I have given you this book as a present. It is yours to keep.”

The man broke even more, becoming a river of tears as he begged the Abbot, “If you won’t take back your book, then take me as your committed disciple.” The Abbot agreed and the man became one of the most committed seekers of the gnostic path.

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The profound mercy of the Abbot in this story blows me away. When the Abbot’s most precious and favorite book filled with revelations from God was taken from him, he was less concerned with guarding the book and more concerned about how to protect the soul of the thief. He doesn’t send a monk after the man for fear that the man may oppress himself more by lying to protect himself. Can you imagine that? Most of us would be focused on justice prevailing, but the Abbot was focused on mercy prevailing. The Abbot was reflecting a teaching from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when he said the following:

“Show mercy to those on the earth, and the One above the heavens will show mercy to you.”
—Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (At-Tirmidhi)

It is in our reflecting of divine qualities upon others that we receive and are receptive to divine qualities upon us. It is in our giving of mercy to others that we are able to receive God’s mercy for us. Many of us, pray for justice when we are wronged, but pray for mercy when we wrong others. But the Abbott wants for the thief what he wants for himself: forgiveness and mercy for his shortcomings.

“Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love to be forgiven by Allah? And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
—Qur’an 24:22

The Abbot’s gentle nature and beautiful character not only resulted in the return of his book, but far more importantly in the return of a lost soul to God. As the Qur’an reminds us, “Repel evil with that which is better, and your enemy may become as close as an intimate friend.” (Qur’an 41:34) Instead of focusing on catching the thief, the Abbot’s heart was focused on awakening him to a deeper truth, to the essence of who Allah created him to be. The Abbot didn’t offer the thief a sermon, and instead of condemning him, he forgave him before he even felt regret for his actions. The thief wasn’t forced to return, he was pulled by a love beyond his understanding from a man who despite not knowing him, showed him a compassion and dignity he had never experienced.

This is not the path of perfection, but the path of those who return to the Perfect One when they fall short. As the Qur’an says, “Indeed, Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves.” (Qur’an 2:222) May Allah guide us to be more gentle than the gentleness that has been granted to us, to be more merciful than the mercy that has been extended to us, to be more generous than the generosity that has been given to us for even if the creation takes the Creator is always giving. May we rejoice in Allah’s gentleness, mercy, generosity, and love so that we may overflow in the service of creation for the sake of our loving Creator.

In prayers of light upon light,