Story :- The Pious Man and the Shopkeeper

There lived a pious man allby himself, who spent most of his time in
praying, fasting and praising Allah. Almost all his waking hours were
utilised in meditation and devotions. He was very happy with his
spiritual progress. No wicked thoughts came to his mindand no evil
temptations entered his heart.
One night, he dreamt a rather disturbing dream. He saw that a
shopkeeper in the town was far superior to him in spirituality and
that he must go to him to learn the basics of true spiritual life.
In the morning, the pious man went in search of the shopkeeper. He
found him busy with his customers, selling goods and collecting money
with a cheerful face. He sat there in a corner of the shop andwatched
the shopkeeper carefully. No signs of any spiritual life at all, he
said to himself. His dream could not be true. But thenhe saw the
shopkeeper disappear to pray his Salah. When he returned, he was busy
dealing with money matters again.
The shopkeeper noticed the pious man sitting in the corner and asked:
"As Salamu Alaikum, would you like something, brother?"
"Wa Alaikum As Salam. Oh!No! No!" said the pious man. "I don't want to
buy anything, but I want to ask you a question." He then related his
dream.
"Well, that is very simple to explain," said the shopkeeper, "but you
will have to do something for me before I answer your question."
"I will do anything for you," replied the pious man.
"All right! Take this saucer;there is some mercury in it. Go to the
other end of the street and come back fast within half an hour. If the
mercury falls out of the saucer, you will hear nothing from me. There
you go now."
The pious man took the saucer and started running. The mercury nearly
wobbled out of the saucer. He saved it just in time, and slowed down.
Then he remembered he had to return within half an hour, so he started
walking at a fast pace. At long last he returned puffing and panting.
"Hereis your mercury, safe and sound," he told the shopkeeper. "Now
tell me the true interpretation of my dream."
The shopkeeper looked at the pious man's weary condition and asked
him:"Well, friend, how many times did you remember Allah while you
were going from this end of the street to the other?"
"Remember Allah!" exclaimed the pious man."I did not remember Him at
all. I was so worried about the mercury in the saucer."
"But I do remember Him all the time," said the shopkeeper. "When I am
doing my business, I am also carrying mercury in a saucer. I am fair,
honest and kind to my customers.I never forget Allah Ta'ala in my
dealings with other men."
"Men whom neither trade nor sale (business) diverts from the
remembrance of Allaah (with heart and tongue) nor from performing
As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah) nor from giving the Zakaah. They fear a
Day when hearts and eyes will be overturned (out of the horror of the
torment of the Day of Resurrection). That Allaah may reward them
according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out
of His Grace. And Allaah provides without measure to whom He wills"
[Al Quran, Surah an-Noor 24:37-38]

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Story :- The Emperor and the Seed

An emperor in the Far Eastwas growing old and knew it was time to
choose his successor. Instead of choosing one ofhis assistants or his
children, he decided something different. He called young people in
thekingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down
and choose the next emperor. Ihave decided to choose one of you."
The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give
each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you
toplant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with
what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants
that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"
One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story.
She helped him get a pot and planting soil,and he planted the seed and
watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if
it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began
to talkabout their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, 4
weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing. By now, others were talking
about their plants but Ling didn'thave a plant, and he felt like a
failure. Six months went by-still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew
hehad killed his seed.
Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling
didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for
his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their
plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he
wasn't going to take an empty pot. But honest about what happened,
Ling felt sick to his stomach, but heknew his mother was right. He
took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at
the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were
beautiful-in all shapes andsizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor
and manyof the other kinds laughedat him. A few felt sorry for him and
just said, "Hey nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young
people. Ling just tried to hide in the back."My, what great plants,
trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of
you will be appointed the next emperor!" All of a sudden, the emperor
spotted Ling at the back ofthe room with his empty pot. He ordered his
guardsto bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor
knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will haveme killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is
Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him.
The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then
announced to the crowd,"Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!"
Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could
he be the new emperor? Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I
gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it,
water it, and bringit back to me today. But I gave you all boiled
seeds which would not grow. Allof you, except Ling, have brought me
trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not
grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was
the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my
seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
The Prophet taught,"Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and
righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keepson telling the truth
until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads toAl-Fajur (i.e.
wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur (wickedness) leads to the (Hell)
Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before
Allah, a liar." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol.8:116]

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Story :- Did You Thank Allah for Your Eyesight?

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He
held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only
a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped
them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote
some words. Heput the sign back so that everyone who walked by would
see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to
the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changedthe sign came to
see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were
you the one who changed my signthis morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a
different way."
What he had written was:"Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign
simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were
so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the
second sign was more effective?
"It is He, Who has created for you (the sense of) hearing (ears),
sight (eyes),and hearts (understanding). Little thanks you give."
[surah Al-Mu'minun; 78]

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You are One

The trees and shadows
are black and brown -
I'm afraid to turn around -
then I hear a sound
like a trumpet call,
ringing like the dawn,
orange and clean.
It's the call of the One,
a perfect Quran,
revealed upon a man
and lights the world like a sun.
It shines on my skin
and warms my mind.
I stride through the trees
tall like a woodsman -
no fear now.
You call and I come,
O Allah, As-Salam,
You are the One.

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