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The Travelers and The Tree
The Travelers and The Tree
Ghulamhusein was a popular social figure and a keen host of guests coming to him from distant
lands. He lived in Moshi, a beautiful small town at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He was
generous and hospitable to one and all. One of his hobbies during leisure hours particularly on
Saturdays and Sundays was to play the game of cards with his friends. For hours they used to get
together where they enjoyed the game. It was not with the aim of gambling but rather just for
pleasure and pass time.
Once in the midst of a lively game of cards, his servant came to inform him that a guest of his was
seriously ill at the guest house and needed his immediate attention. He sent the servant back saying
he would come soon. But he was so much engrossed to withdraw from it. So he continued to play
with keen interest.
After a while, his servant came again to report that the condition of the guest was
deteriorating and needed his urgent attention as there was no one else to attend.
But Ghulamhusein was so deeply engrossed in the game that he did not want to be
disturbed. As such, again he sent the servant back promising to come soon.
By the time he could be free from the very mind captivating game of cards, the
servant came for the third time. But this time he reported that the guest of his a
poor traveler from distant lands had already died. This news gave a shock of his life to
Ghulamhusein. It convinced him of the evil and harmful effect of such an indoor game. There and
then he vowed never to indulge himself in such a game.
Is this not an eye-opening example of an intoxicating and mentally distracting game of cards,
commonly played today either as a pass-time or for gambling purposes? Perhaps it also explains
the philosophy behind absolute Islamic forbiddance to play or watch such a game, even without
the chance of gaining or losing money. It is meant to be prevention than a cure, lest man is one day
tempted to use the game for gambling purpose.
"Abstention from sins is better than
seeking help afterward." Imam Ali (AS)
FINDERS KEEPERS
A wise woman who was traveling in the
mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler
who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry
traveler saw the precious stone & asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.
The traveler left, rejoicing his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him
security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” He said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that
you can give me something even more precious: Give me what you have within you that enabled
you to give me the stone.”
BANDAGE OF COMPLAINT!
Once a saint saw a man with a bandage tied round his head. “Why have you tied the bandage?” he
asked. “Because my head aches,” the man replied. “How old are you?” he demanded. “Thirty,” he
replied. “Have you been in pain and anguish the greater part of your life?” he enquired. “No,” the
man answered. “For thirty years you have enjoyed good health,” he remarked, “and you never tied
the bandage of thankfulness. Now because of this one night head ache, that you have, you tie the
bandage of complaint!”
100 Moral Stories 51 www.islamicoccasions.com
AN AGED STUDENT
Sikaki was a skilled artist an artisan. With great expertise and interest, he made such a nice and
beautiful inkpot that it could be presented to the king. He expected that, appreciating his artistic
skill, the king would encourage him as far as possible. So, with countless hopes and thousand of
desires, he presented that inkpot to the king. In the beginning the king was very impressed by his
artistic skill but afterwards an unpleasant event occurred that caused an extraordinary change in
Sikaki’ s life and way of thinking.
When the king was observing the skilled artistry of the beautiful inkpot and Sikaki was lost in the
world of thoughts, the people informed that a scholar-literary person or jury is about to enter the
court. As soon as the scholar entered, the king got so much absorbed in welcoming and talking to
him that he forgot Sikaki and his skilled artistry. This incident caused an adverse and deep effect
on the heart of Sikaki.
He realized that now he would not receive the encouragement he had expected and all his desires
and hopes are useless now. But Sikaki’s high spirited mind did not allow him to be in peace, so he
started thinking as to what should he do. He decided to do what the others have done and go on the
same way that the others have gone (uptill now). Therefore, he decided to search for his lost hopes
in the world of knowledge, literature and books. Although for a wise man who has passed the days
of his young age, it was not easy to study with young children and to start right from the
preliminary stage. But he did not have a choice . After all whenever the fish is taken out of water,
it is fresh.
Worse than that, in the beginning he did not find any sort of interest in himself regarding reading
and writing. Perhaps spending a long time in artistic works and handicraft was the reason for
stagnancy in his scientific and literary talent. But neither his advanced age nor lack of capability,
none of these could change his decision. With great enthusiasm and zeal for attaining knowledge,
he strictly got busy with his studies, until another incident occurred:
The teacher who was teaching him Shafi’e jurisprudence (fiqh Shafi’e), taught him this lesson:
“The teacher believes that the skin of a dog becomes clean (tahir) after tanning.” Sikaki repeated
this sentence a lot of times so that at the time of examination he should be able to succeed. But
when he was asked to answer this question, he said: “The dog believes that the skin of a teacher
becomes clean after tanning.”
The audience upon hearing this answer started laughing. It was clear for everybody that this old
man is absolutely incapable of reading and writing. After this incident Sikaki not only left the
school , but he left the town and went towards the Jungle. By chance, he reached the
foot of a mountain, where he saw that the water is falling drop by drop from the top
and due to the continuous falling of water, a hole had been formed in that hard stone.
He reflected for sometime, a good idea crossed his mind like lightning. And he said:
“Maybe my heart is not ready to accept (knowledge) but it is not harder than this
stone. It is impossible that continuous studying and hard work would be ineffective.”
Therefore, he came back and with hard work, he got busy in the attainment of
knowledge. As a result he was reckoned as one of the popular scholars of his time.
One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his friends, and said
pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss
with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!,”
he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!”
Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her
own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!”
“Let us heed our daughter-in-law’s advice,” said the husband to his wife.
Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him.
Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?”
The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would’ve
stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love,
there is also Wealth and Success!!!”
Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment. When
the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?”
Richness answered, “No, I can’t. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here
for you.”
Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. “Vanity, please help me!”
“I can’t help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat,” Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by so Love asked, “Sadness, let me go with you.” “Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that
I need to be by myself!” Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even
hear when Love called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, “Come, Love, I will take you.” It was an elder.
So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were
going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went his own way. Realizing
how much was owed the elder, Love asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who
Helped me?”
“Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?” Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and
answered, “Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is.”
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items
in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a
very large and empty mayonnaise Jar and proceeded to fill it with
golf balls.
He then asked the students if the Jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked
up a box of pebbles and poured them into the Jar. He shook the Jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into
the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the Jar was full. They
agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the Jar. Of course, the sand filled up
everything else. He asked once more if the Jar was full. The students responded unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of Coffee from under the table and poured the entire
contents into the Jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this Jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the important things, your God, family, your children, your
health, your friends, and your favorite passions things that if everything else was lost and only they
remained, your life would still be full.” The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job,
your house, and your car. The sand is everything else the small stuff.
“If you put the sand into the Jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf
balls.” The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will
never have room for the things that are important. Pay attention to the things that are critical to
your happiness. Play with your children. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really
matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Coffee represented. The professor
smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there’s always room for a couple of cups of Coffee with a friends.”
THE BAR
A tale is told about a small town that had historically been “dry,”
(no alcohol sold) but then a local businessman decided to build a
tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned
and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene.
It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.
The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were
responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible.
The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that “No matter how this case comes
out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not.”
100 Moral Stories 55 www.islamicoccasions.com
LESSONS ON LIFE
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to
judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go
and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son
went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and
the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to
describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly,
bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green
buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled
so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son
disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only
one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one
season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that
life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your
summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don’t judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are
sure to come some time or later.
THE ROSE WITHIN
A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed,
he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns
upon the stem and he thought, “How can any beautiful flower come from a
plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?” Saddened by this thought, he
neglected to water the rose, and just before it was ready to bloom... it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The good qualities planted in us at
birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns,
the defects.
We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good
within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.
Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the
greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns of another, and find the
rose within them.
This is one of the characteristic of love... to look at a person, know their true faults and accepting
that person into your life... all the while recognizing the nobility in their soul. Help others to realize
they can overcome their faults. If we show them the “rose” within themselves, they will conquer
their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.
The most favorable friend to me is that who shows me my flaws. Imam Sadiq (AS)
‘50 gms!’.... ‘100 gms!’...... ‘125 gms’ ...... the students answered.
“I really don’t know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question
is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?”
“Nothing” the students said.
“Ok! What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor
asked. “Your arm would begin to ache,” said one of the students.
“Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to
hospital for sure!” ventured another student; and all the students laughed.
“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the professor.
“Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?” The students were puzzled.
“Exactly!” said the professor. “Life’s problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in
your head and they seem okay. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even
longer and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.”
“It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is
to have trust in Allah (swt) and to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep.
That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can handle any issue,
any challenge that comes your way!”
So, as it becomes time for you to leave office today, Remember friend to “PUT THE GLASS DOWN
TODAY” and have tranquility by putting trust in Almighty Allah (swt).
Holy Quran (48:4) says: “He it is who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers that
they might have more faith added to their faith.” Tranquility is sign of strong faith while worries
and stress is sign of weak faith. Tell to your mind every day before you go to sleep: “YAA
AYYATUHAN NAFSUL MUTMAINNAH, IRJI’II ILAA RABBIKI RADHIYATAN MARDHIYYAH,
FADKHULII FII IBAADII WADKHULII JANNATII”. (Al-Fajr 89:27-30)
“O soul that is at rest satisfied. Return to your Lord well-pleased (with Him), well-pleasing (Him).
So, enter among My servants, and enter into my Paradise.”