"What is fate?"

"What is fate?" Nasrudin was asked by a scholar.
"An endless succession of intertwined events, each influencing the other."
"That is hardly a satisfactory answer. I believe in cause and effect."
"Very well," said the Mulla, "look at that." He pointed to a procession passing in the street.
"That man is being taken to be hanged. Is it because someone gave him a silver piece and enabled him to buy a knife with which he committed murder, or because someone saw him do it; or because nobody stopped him?"