A slave named Ayaz was so highly favored by the Sultan that the Sultan made him his treasurer. The most precious jewels and gems were given into his charge. And those around the Sultan felt angry about it, to think that a slave was raised to their rank and that he was given such a trust. They were always trying to point out faults in the slave to the Sultan. One day a courtier said, "Ayaz goes every day to the treasure-house, even when there is no need to, and he sometimes remains there for hours. He certainly steals precious jewels from the treasury." Every day the Sultan was hearing something against Ayaz, and at last he said, "If this is really so, I will go and see it with my own eyes." He went and had a hole made in the wall so that he could see and hear what his slave did there. The Sultan was standing outside, looking into the room, and Ayaz entered and closed the door.

First he opened the chest in which the precious jewels of the Sultan were kept; then out of the same chest he took something which he had kept there. He kissed it and pressed it to his eyes, and then he opened the package. And what was it? It was the same garment which he had worn when he was sold as a slave. He took off his courtier's clothes and put on that garment and he stood before the mirror and said, "Ayaz, do you remember today what you were before? Nothing; a slave brought before the king to be sold. The king appreciated something in you; perhaps you do not deserve it. But try your best to be faithful to the king who has made you what you are, and never forget the day when you wore this garment, that you may not raise your head in pride above the others who work under you; and never allow your feeling of gratitude to leave you, for prosperity is always intoxicating. Keep yourself sober and thank God, and pray God to grant the Sultan a long life, and be grateful for all that has been given to you."

Then he took off his garment and put it back in the chest and closed the doors and came out. The Sultan approached him with open arms and said, "Ayaz, until now you were the treasurer of my jewels, but now you are the treasurer of my heart. You have taught me a lesson of how I must stand before my King, before whom I was nothing and am nothing."

This must be the attitude. It was not a suggestion of his misery as a slave, it was a suggestion of the realization that he had come from that state to his exalted position, and also that he should prove worthy of it.