The Baker’s Loss

THE following story is a parable from Jewish tradition. 

A baker put a selection of delicious pastries on a tray.  He carried the tray to the street market and offered the pastries for sale.

A joker looked at all the wonderful treats.  He asked the baker, “How much do you want for all the pastries on the tray?”

The baker answered that he hoped to make ten dollars.

The joker offered an odd deal.  He said, “I will give you ten dollars if you will eat all the pastries yourself.  I will stand here and watch you eat them all, and then I will give you the ten dollars.”

The baker agreed.  He began eating all the little cakes and cookies.  The joker watched as the baker ate until the last pastry was gone.  Then the joker laughed and ran away without giving the baker any money.

The baker could not even call the police and claim to be a victim.  He had eaten his own baked items.  He had caused his own loss.  The police would not make the joker pay for the pastries when he was not the one who had eaten them.

Satan the Evil Whisperer is like the joker.  He tries to trick us by offering to reward us for robbing our own souls.  In the end, however, we are left to pay our own bills. 

The Qur’an teaches the same thing as the Jewish parable:  “Whoever accepts guidance does so for his [or her] own benefit.  Whoever rejects guidance does so at his [or her] own loss.  No sinner is responsible for another person’s sins.  We [God as the Majestic Unity] do not punish without first sending a messenger” (inspired by Surah 17: 15).

Do not let the Evil Whisperer trick you.  He is a mean joker.  If you do something wrong, he will laugh at you.  He will not pay for your loss.