A band of thieves, fleeing from the authorities, happened upon an abandoned dervish lodge, where they decided to hang out for a little while. Dressing up in patched robes and pretending to be dervishes, they waited to see if they could prey on the gullibility of unsuspecting travellers and rob them of their belongings. As they lay there in wait, watching the roads, they spotted Nasrudin and his son, who also happened to be travelling to another town along the same route. Tired from their journey, Nasrudin suggested to his son that they stop and seek refuge at the dervish lodge where they would surely be met with generosity and offered a place to sleep and food to eat.
When they knocked on the door, they were very warmly welcomed by the "dervishes" whom, as expected, offered them food and lodging. Later that evening, the chief bandit, pretending to be the group's shaykh, invited Nasrudin to join in their zikr ceremonies and dances, the Mulla gladly accepted. When the dances started, Nasrudin, eager to impress and demonstrate his adeptness to his hosts, began to whirl non stop, barely taking a break, until he began to lose his bearings. Then the "shaykh" began the chanting: "Take my life, it is Yours, it is Yours!" the shaykh began "It is Yours, it is Yours!" the others, including Nasrudin, answered. "Take my heart, it is Yours, it is Yours!" the shaykh continued "It is Yours, it is Yours!" the others responded. "Take all my possessions, they are Yours, they are Yours!" "All is Yours, All is Yours!" Noticing that Nasrudin was beginning to loosen up and indeed, lose his senses, the chief bandit now introduced a new theme. "Take my donkey, it is Yours, it is Yours" he began "It is Yours, it is Yours!" everyone responded "Take my donkey, it is yours!" the "shaykh" kept repeating while looking directly at Nasrudin, and the latter, lost in a mystical frenzy and not wanting to be outdone, started repeating the phrase, over and over, louder than everyone else: "Take my donkey, it is yours, it is yours!"
Finally, the Mulla passed out, and when he woke up the next day, much to his dismay, he found out that the thieves had left and had taken his donkey along with them. Enraged, he ran to his son. "Where is the donkey? didn't I leave YOU in charge of it!" he admonished the boy "Well... yes, you did," muttered the terrified boy, "but when the dervishes came to take it, I ran to get you, but then I heard you yelling at the top of your voice, 'Take my donkey, it is yours!' in front of everyone present, so I could only assume that was your wish!"