I acquired a set of attitudes long ago that no longer serve me. They helped me survive back then but they are unhelpful now. They are an old pair of shoes, so to speak. How can I rid myself of them, so I may try on the new pair of shoes that lie before me? I’ve hung onto these old shoes with great willfulness, and it hasn’t worked to use willpower to make them go away.
In this story from the Arabian Nights, Abu Kassim learns to let go of his old shoes – only after he endures calamity after calamity by trying to free himself through sheer force.
Abu Kassim’s Old Shoes
Abu Kassim – Kazi for short – owned an old pair of shoes he could not part with. For many years they had served him, but like any old pair of shoes they had grown dirty and hardened. Their stitching had become frayed. Yet whenever it finally seemed time for Kazi to let go of his shoes, he would have the cobbler patch them up, and they would last another year.
At last Kazi became willing to wear a new pair of shoes. To do so, he would need to rid himself of the old. “This should be easy enough,” Kazi said. He stepped onto his balcony, said, “So long, old shoes,” and with great might flung them away. But they landed on the weak part of a neighbor’s roof and broke through. Down the shoes plunged. Near the bottom they knocked down some shelving that held bottles of the purest rosewater, and those bottles fell upon the tile floor and shattered.
When the people went inside the house to surmise the damage, one remarked, “Why, look! These are the shoes of Abu Kassim!” So he was taken forcibly before the Governor, who found him at fault for the damage and ordered him to pay for the broken bottles and the repair of the house.
Then the old shoes were handed back to Kazi.
Kazi stared at the old shoes, annoyed. “I will take you to a far-off place and throw you into a dark hole,” he said.
So Abu Kassim traveled to the outskirts of town and hurled his shoes into a conduit. He returned home and for three days heard nothing. Suddenly came a pounding at the door! In burst the Governor’s men. They seized Kazi, hauled him off to the stockade, and there administered one hundred lashes.
You see, Kazi’s shoes had stopped up the conduit. Because the water could not flow through, it backed up and flooded many homes.
Kazi was freed. Then the old shoes were returned to him.
Kazi became enraged! “I will be done with you once and for all!” he screamed. Kazi seized an ax and hacked the shoes into four pieces. Then he went to the four corners of the city and threw the shoes away. One piece floated under the archway of a bridge, where it became wedged. Sand collected around the shoe, then more and more sand piled on top until it formed a dam. When a party waded into the channel to clear it, one member remarked, “Look here! It’s a piece of the shoe of Abu Kassim.”
Then the pieces of Abu Kassim’s shoes were retrieved and given back to him.
Kazi looked at the old shoes. “I cannot do battle with you anymore,” he said. “I surrender.” So Kazi took his shoes and made his way to the judge, the arbiter of the town, and turned the matter over to him.
“I beg you hear my declaration and that all bear witness,” Kazi said. “I hereby break off all further relations with these shoes. In addition, I humbly ask for a certificate showing that I am free from these shoes, and they are free from me.”
The judge was highly amused and gave Kazi his desired certificate. So it was that by becoming willing to let go of the old shoes and simply asking to have them removed, Abu Kassim was liberated to try on the new.
Abu Kassim was finally able to rid himself of his old shoes by surrendering. He became willing to turn things over to a Higher Power. In this story it was the judge. For me, God is a Higher Power. For you, a Higher Power might be nature, science, Buddha, or the friends and family who support you. There are many forms of understanding.
When I surrender I am not giving up. I am being courageous. I am willing to change and to become open to a new way of living. Change is hard but luckily I don’t have to work at it on my own. I can ask God – my Higher Power – for help. I can let go of the illusion of control and let God take over. Then I can take action to recover.
Note: This original telling is derived from two sources: “The Story of the Kazi and His Slipper” within Supplemental Nights: Volume 4 (1888) by Sir Richard F. Burton, and “The Story of Abul Cassim’s Shoes” by unknown author published in The Knickerbocker (1843).
Copyright 2024 Eric Patterson. All rights reserved.
INMI Board Member Eric Patterson is a mental health advocate and oral storyteller.
