In Idries Shah's Wisdom of the Idiots, the 'idiots' are Sufis, called this because their wisdom penetrates to a depth which renders it inaccessible to the merely intelligent or academically-knowledgeable. The exercise-stories of the Sufis are tools prepared for a specific purpose.

On this level the movements of the characters in a story portray psychological processes, and the story becomes a working blueprint of those processes.

Wisdom of the Idiots has been awarded many prizes, including two gold medals, one for being 'Best Book', in conjunction with UNESCO's World Book Year.