"Religion came to him as a death and a rebirth. One night, he was just tossing and turning in his bed – as rich people, kings, are bound to. Sleep was far away. Sleep is a prerogative of the poor, the privilege of the poor. Only the poor can afford sleep. They have nothing to worry about, that's why.

"Ibrahim was a great king. A thousand and one worries were always waiting. He had been suffering from sleeplessness for years. Physicians had been of no help. Suddenly he heard somebody walking on the roof of the palace. Naturally, he became afraid. Kings are very frightened people. When you have, you have to be afraid – the fear of losing it. Those who don't have may be fearless; but those who have, how can they be fearless? He became afraid…maybe some enemy, some spy. He shouted loudly, 'Who is there?'

"And the man laughed, and the laughter was either of a madman or of a buddha. Because only two kinds of people can laugh that laughter – laughter that comes from the very belly, laughter that has no politics in it, laughter that is not manipulated, laughter that is not managed by the mind. Laughter that comes from the deepest core of one's being.

"A child can laugh like that, or a madman, or a buddha. Ibrahim was more shaken. He said, 'Who are you there? and why are you laughing? Answer the question: who are you there and what are you doing there?'

"And the strange man said, 'Don't be worried. I have lost my camel and I am looking for it.'

"Now, camels are not lost on the roofs of palaces. How can they reach there? 'The man must be mad, utterly mad.' Ibrahim called the guards, told them to catch hold of this man, but they could not get him. They tried hard, but he was not found anywhere. He simply disappeared. As suddenly as he had appeared, he suddenly disappeared.

"The king could not sleep. His other worries were there, now this new worry was there: 'Who is this man? And what did he want? And why did he laugh? And his answer is a puzzle.'

"The next day, when he was sitting in his court on his throne, he was still thinking of the strange laughter."