Mulla Nasruddin (or Hoca Nasrettin in Turkey or Hodja Nasraddin) is a legendary Sufi mystic and the protagonist of many Islamic wisdom tales. “Hoca” means teacher and “mulla” is a teacher trained in Islamic law. One of my favorite Nasruddin tales is the story about his search for a lost key.
One night a man is walking home and he finds the Mulla on his hands and knees under a street light. He asks the Mulla what he is looking for. Mulla Nasruddin tells the man that he has lost the key to his house. The man gets on his hands and knees and begins to search, too. After a while the man becomes tired of searching and he asks, “Mulla, are you sure you lost it here?” The Mulla points to a dark place a few yards away and tells the man, “I lost it over there.” The man says in frustration, “Mulla, if you lost the key over there, then why are you searching for it here?” The Mulla replies simply, “Because this is where the light is.”
