A beautiful peasant girl named Layla was passing through some farmland on her way to a neighbouring village. On her journey there was a man offering his prayers out in the open. The local custom was that no one should cross in front of the place where anyone was praying. When Layla returned from the village, the man was still sitting there.

He voiced, “O girl, what terrible sin have you committed earlier!”

“What did I do?” she asked, puzzled.

“I was offering prayers here, and you passed over this place.”

“What do you mean by offering prayers?”

“Thinking of God,” he replied.

“Really? Were you thinking of God? I was thinking of my young man whom I was going to meet, and I did not see you. Then how did you see me while you were thinking of God?”

Quiet Earth sponsored audio: Spirituality and the Lightness of Being