A story by Saadi

 

The King’s Illness and the Boy

They have related that a tyrannical king of Khorasan once fell ill.
His physicians declared, “O King, your cure lies in the gallbladder of a certain youth who possesses these rare traits.”

The royal guards were sent to find such a youth. They located a boy matching the description and prepared to take his life for the king’s sake.

When the boy learned of his fate, he sank into despair and prayed: “O God, they rely on my gallbladder for the king’s recovery, yet I trust in You alone. You can heal the king without shedding my blood.”

Upon hearing the boy’s plea and seeing his innocence, the king’s heart was moved to pity.
Instead of demanding the boy’s life, he chose to spare him. In that same moment, the king found relief from his illness, thus discovering that compassion—rather than cruelty—became the true source of his cure.