Once upon a time, there was an old, tired lion. He remained sick in his cave, feeling tired. All the animals went to visit him and check on his health. However, the fox was the only animal that didn’t go to check on the lion. The wolf took advantage of his visit to the lion to accuse the fox, saying: The fox has no respect for your majesty, oh king. That is why he didn’t come to greet your majesty or even ask about your health. ...
One summer night, the Sultan went out to stroll through the city after feeling some sudden distress. He shouted at one of his guards to bring his chief to go out on a tour with him. This Sultan was accustomed to strolling through the city from time to time in disguise. As soon as his guard chief met him, the Sultan began, saying, “Come, let’s go out for a walk; I feel distressed.” His guard chief agreed and went out with him, strolling among the city streets. ...
In ancient times, in a distant country between countries, one of the princesses lived with her mother the queen in a high castle. The princess was still a small child when her father the king died, so she grew up in the care of her mother the queen. The princess grew up and became a charming girl. Once, the queen said to her daughter, “You are now a girl, my daughter, and it is time for you to marry. A young prince from a neighboring kingdom has asked for your hand.” ...
One day, a huge caravan set out from Iraq, containing more than one hundred and fifty camels carrying on their backs many goods of different shapes and types, strange and unique as well. It also included dozens of travelers from merchants, sellers, and others who went with the caravan in search of livelihood. After that huge caravan reached a place with some shade, the merchants and everyone in the caravan went to take some rest, for fatigue had reached its utmost extent. Indeed, everyone went to the shade and slept until they woke up again after a period of time to the sound of one of the merchants shouting that his money had been stolen. ...
Cooperation and justice are praiseworthy values that we must all adhere to so that love, peace, and good may prevail upon us. However, we must consider in our minds that not everyone can adhere to values like these. Therefore, it is our duty to teach our friends. Adhering to such good qualities is part of our adherence to our religion, for cooperation and judging between people with justice are the two pillars of life that enable us to obtain our rights, grant others their rights, and become in our lives an example and lesson that we judge between our brothers with justice and fairness. ...
Long ago, there was a beautiful city called the City of Justice. The reason for its name was that its ruler was a king characterized by justice and was keen on equality among all his people. One day, one of his ministers went to him, sat with him, and began talking to him about the way he could spread love and equality among people. Here, the minister suggested that the king hang a huge bell in the city, through which the people could pull the rope and ring the bell, so the ruler would know that one of his subjects had been subjected to injustice. He would send someone to help the oppressed recover his rights and remove the injustice he had been subjected to. ...
Frequently, resentment occurs between a brother and his brother because of the differentiation in treatment between them from before their fathers. Thus the younger son sees injustice, even though it may be that the older son is the most deserving of what might be, and what the father does is not injustice as much as it is good use of his children’s resources and cultivation of their potentialities. In one of the distant villages, there were two brothers working on a farm of vegetables under their father’s supervision. After several years from the beginning of work, the older brother noticed that his father gave his younger brother many tasks and great responsibilities and rewarded him generously. ...
Rohan was a greedy and selfish man, never satisfied with the money he had and always coveting more. He never hesitated to deceive others to obtain money. Above all this, he was stingy and gave nothing to the poor and needy. His selfishness was so great that he wanted to own everything for himself, regardless of what others possessed. He counted every cent, large and small. Because of his stinginess toward others, he had abundant money with which he bought many lands and employed many workers. Despite his great wealth, he paid them very small amounts and was ready to lie at any time and at all times in order to increase his money. ...
Honesty is a great value and a praiseworthy trait that we should all adorn ourselves with, especially when accompanied by a promise and good intention from another person. If we are honest in someone’s promise to us, we must do the same and not betray, for betrayal is deeply harmful, especially to those who have given us security and safety. One day the turtle Fūrī was standing on the bank of the river. As was her custom, Fūrī would wake early, swim, and praise her Lord for the blessing of health and ask for her provision from her Creator. On this day, Fūrī was standing on the riverbank and resolved to descend into it in search of some food and to play with her friends. ...
We have spoken much about the value of cooperation—that it is the foundation by which any individuals can rise and defend one another, and help themselves as well if they use it in the correct way. The simplest rule of proper cooperation is fairness, whether in how to help during the distribution of tasks, or fairness in distributing the gain if cooperation yields tangible benefits. This is the basis of our story. ...