Saadi of Shiraz used to tell the following story:

‘When I was a child, I used to pray with my father, my uncles and my cousins. Every night we would gather together to listen to a passage from the Qur’an.

On one such night, while my uncle was reading a passage out loud, I noticed that most of the people were asleep.

I said to my father:

“Not one of these dozy people is listening to the words of the Prophet. They’ll never reach God.”

And my father replied:

“My dear son, look for your own path with faith and let others take care of themselves.
Who knows, perhaps they are talking to God in their dreams.
Believe me, I would much prefer you to be sleeping alongside them than
to hear your harsh words of judgement and condemnation.”

_____________________

The above story from:  Paulo Coelho’s blog at http://paulocoelhoblog.com/category/stories/

For a brief introduction to Saadi and another excellent parable by the poet, please click Parable: The Clay’s Sweet Fragrance