The Enemy

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A story from the world of Sufi:

A bowl of poison was brought as a present to great wise Umar. “Of what use is this?” he asked.
They said, “When it is not publicly advisable to kill someone openly, you can give them a little
of this. Then they will die secretly. If it is an enemy who cannot be slain with the sword, with a little of this they can be killed clandestinely.”
“You have brought me a very good thing,” he said. “Give it to me to drink, for within me is a
mighty enemy whom the sword cannot reach. I have no greater enemy in the world than he.” “There is no need to drink it all up in one gulp,” they told him. “Just one sip is enough. This bowl is sufficient for a hundred thousand people.”
“My enemy, too, is not one person,” said Umar. “He is a thousand strong, and has overthrown
a hundred thousand.”
He then seized the cup and drank it all in one draught. At once the assembled multitude all
became believers, crying, “Your religion is true!”
“You have all become believers,” said Umar, “and yet this infidel within me has not yet become a believer.”