by Russell H. Conwell
There once lived, not far from the River Indus, an ancient Persian by the name of Ali Hafed. He owned a very large farm, that had orchards, grain-fields, and gardens; he had money invested, and was a wealthy and contented man. He was contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented.
An old priest said, “During Creation internal fires burst outward and threw up the mountains and hills, the valleys, the plains and prairies of this wonderful world of ours. If this internal molten mass came bursting out and cooled quickly it became granite; less quickly copper, less quickly silver, less quickly gold, and, after gold, diamonds were made. “A diamond is a congealed drop of sunlight—an actual deposit of carbon from the sun.”
Ali Hafed studied the value of diamonds, and went to his bed a poor man. He had not lost anything, but he was poor because he was discontented, and discontented because he feared he was poor. He said, “I want a field of diamonds,” and he lay awake nights.
Ali Hafed asked: “Will you tell me where I can find diamonds?” “Diamonds! What do you want with diamonds?” “Why, I wish to be immensely rich.” “Well, then, go along and find them. That is all you have to do; find them, and then you will have them.”
“But I don’t know where to go.”
“Well, if you will find a river that runs through white sands, between high mountains, in those white sands you will always find diamonds.” “I don’t believe there is any such river.” “Oh yes, there are plenty of them. All you have to do is to go and find them, and then you have them.” Ali Hafed said, “I will go.”
So he sold his farm, collected his money, left his family in charge of a neighbor, and away he went in search of diamonds. He came around into Palestine, then wandered on into Europe, and at last when his money was all spent and he was in rags, wretchedness, and poverty, he stood on the shore of the bay at Barcelona, in Spain, and passed away.
The man who purchased Ali Hafed’s farm one day led his camel into the garden to drink, and as that camel put its nose into the shallow water of the garden brook, Ali Hafed’s successor noticed a curious flash of light from the white sands of the stream. He pulled out a black stone having an eye of light reflecting all the hues of the rainbow. He took the pebble into the house and put it on the mantel which covers the central fires, and forgot all about it.
A few days later the same old priest came in to visit Ali Hafed’s successor, and he saw a flash of light on the mantel, and he rushed up to it, and shouted: “Here is a diamond! Has Ali Hafed returned?” “Oh no, Ali Hafed has not returned. That is nothing but a stone we found right out here in our own garden.” “But” said the priest, “I tell you I know a diamond when I see it. I know positively that is a diamond!”
We don’t need to go looking for something we already have.
04/16/23