Mantic uttaïr, The Schaïkh and the Old Woman

One day an old woman said to the shaikh Mahna: “Teach me a prayer for attaining contentment. Until now I have been prey to discontent, but I no longer wish to give myself over to it. If Thou teachest me the prayer of contentment, it shall become my daily prayer.” The shaikh answered her: “It is long since I withdrew into a kind of fortress, behind my knee, to seek eagerly what Thou desirest; but I have neither seen nor found it. So long as no remedy for love is discovered, how can one attain contentment?”