From a snake-catcher someone stole a snake;
The fool saw as success this huge mistake.
From that snake’s bite its owner thus was spared
It killed the thief who’d now become ensnared.
The owner saw the thief as he lay dead:
‘It was my snake that took his life,’ he said,
‘I’d prayed to find this wretch eventually,
To claim my snake, then take it home with me
Thank heavens, God chose not to answer it:
What I thought loss was to my benefit!’
So many prayers request catastrophe,
But God opts not to listen mercifully
poem by Rumi