Bahlool and Separating the Rich from the Poor

One day, Bahlool was in the Baghdad cemetery shaking the heads of the dead, sometimes filling them with earth, and then emptying them again. Someone asked him, “Bahlool, what are you doing with these heads of the dead?” He replied, “I am trying to separate the rich from the poor and the rulers from their subjects, but I see that they are all the same.”

Bahlool’s actions and words here highlight the futility of distinguishing between people in the grave. Regardless of wealth or status during life, in death, everyone is equal, emphasizing the transient nature of material distinctions.