One night, several precious jewels disappeared from the palace treasury. The guards reported, “Your Majesty, the thief always comes in complete darkness. No lamp is lit, no sound is heard. It feels as if the darkness itself has become the thief.”
Emperor Akbar was very angry. He called Birbal and said, “Birbal, this thief is hiding in the dark and looting our treasury. You must catch him.”
Birbal bowed calmly and replied, “Your Majesty, darkness is the thief’s friend, but if used wisely, the same darkness can become his enemy. Please give me one night.”
The next night Birbal prepared a clever plan. He made the treasury room completely dark. In the centre, he placed the remaining jewels on a small table. Then he called all the palace servants, guards and possible suspects into that same dark room and made them sit in a circle.
Birbal said softly, “Tonight the darkness itself will decide. The one who has stolen will feel a strange coldness on his hands. Everyone, stay quiet.”
The room was pitch black. No one even breathed loudly. Birbal stood quietly in one corner. After a while, he said in a very low voice, “Now everyone hold out your palms.”
Suddenly he lit a lamp. As the light spread, every eye stopped on one man — the kitchen servant. Both his palms clearly showed white marks of flour.
Birbal smiled and explained, “I had sprinkled fine flour on the jewels. In the dark, the thief touched them and the flour stuck to his hands. The darkness that he used to hide became the very thing that revealed him.”
The servant trembled and confessed. He admitted that every night he used the darkness to steal, believing no one would ever see him.
Akbar patted Birbal on the back and said, “Birbal, you have once again proved that no darkness can hide the truth forever.”
The servant was given a light punishment and taught a lesson in honesty. From that day, no theft ever occurred in the palace again.
Moral: Darkness may hide wrong actions for a while, but truth always brings light.