I spend much time thinking about the relations between fathers and their sons. A Türkmen saying goes: “If your father is a dog, then feed yourself at a trough.”

Once in the old times, a saint spoke ill of a certain man, saying:

“May you bark as a dog does.” The very moment the saint uttered this, the man became a dog, by Allah’s will. That man’s son fed his father at his doorway. After people went to bed, he washed the dog, brushed it and ate at the trough with his dog-father. This lasted seven years. When the saint saw how honest and sincere the son was, he prayed to Allah for the man to become a human being again and afterwards he said to the man:

“Indeed you should have lived in this world as a dog because of your deeds, but I see that you’ve raised a perfect son. It is for that Allah elevated you to your human status again.”

Men are parts in a chain. Each individual is a part of the chain. You are a part only because your father was a part. Never, ever seek benefits from your father in return for what you did for him, and if he does that, then be patient.

(317-318.)