Fable

It is told that in one of the times, there was a simple peasant man whom God Almighty had blessed with the talent of understanding the language of animals. This simple, intelligent peasant named Hamdan was about to buy a donkey to help him in work and fulfill his needs. Hamdan remembered while going to the market to buy one that his neighbor was selling a donkey. He went to him to buy it. Indeed, the generous neighbor welcomed him and sold it to him at a price that pleases God without being unjust to his right. ...

One day, the fox went out of the forest searching for food. He found nothing in his path except the turtle. When she saw him, she extended her head to him. When the fox saw the turtle’s head, he gritted his teeth and licked his saliva while panting and hurried to get her head, saying to himself: I must get her to satisfy my hunger. When he approached her, she put her head into her house, which is the weapon she defends herself with. ...

The tiger said to the fox: Let us race from the top of the world to its bottom, and whoever wins becomes the master of the world! The Cunning Fox: The fox agreed, and the tiger leaped launching, without noticing that the fox had hung onto his tail to drag him along wherever he went. As soon as the tiger was about to reach the other end of the world, he suddenly looked around to mock the fox, whom he believed had lagged far behind him. ...

Once upon a time, there was one of the beautiful valleys full of flowers and large trees with long branches and green leaves, where a small bird was born in a nest at the top of one of the tree branches. That nest was full of eggs. On a bright spring morning, the small birds that emerged from the eggs were born, except only one that was delayed in coming out, as it took a little longer to break the egg and see the light of morning. ...

Parents and those older than us who care about us often advise us not to stand and talk to strangers, or give them great safety and trust when we know nothing about them. The world is full of evildoers who can harm us. In addition to that, listening to parents’ advice makes us dutiful to them, for they know best that in life there are evil people who may attract us with sweet talk and excessive praise until we fall into their traps, and they can attack us later. This is likely what happened to the poor crow. ...

The little river was flowing laughing happily, planting fertility in its steps and carrying in its palms generosity. It ran between the grasses, singing its songs, scattering sweetness, green joy. It watered the withering flowers so their smiling lips brightened, watered the thirsty trees so their branches danced, and embraced the dead earth so life returned to it. The generous river continued the journey of joy and giving, not favoring anyone or expecting reward. On its side was a small, hard-hearted rock that was annoyed by his much work and addressed him: Why do you waste your water in vain? ...

A rich man kept a treasure, a dog, and a fox, in addition to a silver ship model. This was a magic amulet that one of the angels had given him—I do not know who. One day, this amulet was stolen! The Amulet and Ruin: No one found the amulet in any place. He grieved greatly, to the extent that he lay in bed fasting, even from eating food, and approached death. During that time, the dog and the fox were playing in his room, but after some time, when they saw that the man was about to die of hunger, they actually died of hunger. ...

The famous Arab proverb says that greed diminishes what is gathered. God, glory be to Him and exalted, has warned us from that despicable trait, commanding us to love for our brother what we love for ourselves, for in greed there is wretchedness of souls and constriction of hearts, making the individual selfish, thinking only of himself. There were three friends living in a poor village. They had not been able to earn abundant wealth there. One day the three decided to go to the city together to earn money, where much work was available there and the doors of livelihood were many. ...

The colored butterfly perched on a branch in the flourishing garden among roses and beautiful flowers. She moved from flower to flower, from leaf to leaf, proud and joyful at what God had bestowed upon her of beauty and gracefulness. Then she began to speak to herself, saying: “How wonderful my body and its proportion and gracefulness, and how beautiful my colors that resemble all the colors of nature, and how sweet my two soft wings like silk. Without doubt I am the most beautiful thing God the Exalted has created in this garden, and its most wonderful. I am the queen of the garden.” ...

In ancient times lived two brothers, Mansūr and Yāsir, and they worked as fishermen. Each had his own boat on which he worked in fishing. Mansūr’s share was the small boat, while Yāsir was fortunate with the larger boat in size. Mansūr was the younger brother, and among his traits was that he was kind-hearted and extremely gentle. He helped the poor, the needy, the elderly, and those in need, presenting them with fish without compensation. As for Yāsir, he was characterized by harshness of heart and wickedness of nature. He was always mocking his brother because he presented fish to the poor and needy without receiving any compensation from them. He often described his brother as foolish for this reason. The affectionate Mansūr would feel pain in his heart after hearing this speech. He would say with compassion toward the poor: “They have no money, so from where can they bring it to eat?” Yāsir heard nothing from his brother except that he was not responsible for them. Mansūr would admonish him that people are brothers by nature and that the poor have rights upon those around them, and this is what our pure religion has commanded us. Yāsir persisted in his position more than before. ...