owner. He took delight inher song day and night, and was so fond of
her that he served her water in a golden dish. Before he left for a
business trip,he asked the bird if she had a wish: "I will go through
the forest whereyou were born, past the birds of your old
neighborhood. What message should I take forthem?"
The bird said, "Tell them Isit full of sorrow in a cage singing my
captive song. Day and night, my heart is full of grief. I hope it will
not be long before I see my friends again and fly freely through the
trees. Bring me a message from the lovely forest, that will set my
heart at ease. Oh, I yearn for my Beloved, to fly with Him, and spread
my wings. Until then there is no joy for me, and I am cut off from all
of life's sweet things."
The merchant travelled on his donkey through the dense forest. He
listened to the melodies of many birds. When the merchant reached the
forest where his bird came from, he stopped, pushed his hood back, and
said, "O you birds! Greetings to you all from my pretty bird locked in
her cage. She sends tidings of her love to you and wants to tell of
her plight. She asks for a reply that will ease her heart.
My love for her keeps hercaptive with bars all around her. She wants
tojoin her beloved and singher songs through the airwith a free heart,
but I would miss her beautiful songs and cannot let her go."
All the birds listened to the merchant's words. Suddenly one bird
shrieked and fell from a tree brunch to the ground. The merchant froze
to the spot where he stood. Nothing could astound him more than this
did. One bird had fallen down dead!
The merchant continued on to the city and traded his goods. At last he
returned to his home. He did not know what to tellhis bird when she
asked what message he had brought. He stood beforeher cage and said,
"Oh, nothing to speak of no, no,"
The bird cried, "I must know at once."
I do not know what happened," said the merchant. "I told them your
message. Then, one of them fell down dead."
Suddenly the merchant's bird let out a terrible shriek and fell on her
head to the bottom of the cage.
The merchant was horrified. He wept in despair, "Oh, what have I
done?" He cried, "What Have I done? Now my life means nothing. My
moonhas gone and so has my sun. Now my own bird is dead."
Merchant opened the cage door, reached in, and took her into his hands
gently and carefully. "I will have to bury her now," he said;"poor
thing is dead."
Suddenly, the moment hehad lifted the bird out of the cage, she
swooped up, flew out of the window and landed on the nearest roof
slope. She turned to him and said, gratefully, "Thank you, merchant
master, for delivering my message. That bird's reply instructed me how
to win my freedom. All I had to do was to be dead. I gained my freedom
when I chose to die."
"So now I fly to my beloved who waits for me. Good-bye, good-bye, my
master no longer.""My bird was wise; she taught me secret," the
merchant reflected.
Moral:If you want to be with the ones you love, you must be ready to
give up everything, even life itself. And then, by Allah (SWT), you
will win your heart's desire.
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