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. ...
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Sina, and she had a small, good, gentle bear named Golo. When the sun rose on one of the wonderful days, the princess wanted to go with the bear on an outing to one of the beautiful places. The princess went with the bear far and far until they reached a distant and beautiful forest known as the Candy Forest. As soon as she looked at the forest, the princess knew why they called it the Candy Forest. ...
That night was stormy, and the three small girls in their captivity—tree branches clapping and the wind whistling—did not feel cold, for the room was warm and the floor was soft woolen. The mother, who liked to recount her grandmother’s stories on such a night, said: Once upon a time in ancient times. The eldest interrupted her: We know the story. There were three girls who secluded themselves until they ate. The mother returned, sighing: No, this is not the story. The middle one said: Three girls work in the Sultan’s palace, and the small one’s name is Love of the Romans. The mother laughed and said: Rather, the middle one whose name is Love of the Romans is the one who deliberately and intentionally threw the thimble into the water. ...
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. ...
Amer and Maher were brothers who loved each other dearly, moving through life like inseparable friends. They never quarreled or fell out; Maher was always at the top of his class, as was Amer. They were rarely apart, except for the brief moments when each turned to his own special hobby. Amer’s passion was to gaze at the sky, learning the names and positions of the stars, dreaming of one day becoming an astronaut. Maher, meanwhile, searched the earth, excavating for a radiant silver stone he had heard stories about. ...
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. ...
Peace, love, and goodness—all values and dealings advocated by our noble Messenger, who instructed us to practice them with everyone around us. Our friend Amar understood this matter, and this was his way of implementing it. Amar returned from school one day and sat talking to his father about what he had learned from his workshop. He said to his father: Do you know, father, that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, used to go to the market without having any need in it? His father replied: And how is that, Amar? ...
Contentment is one of the most important blessings God has granted us. It makes you feel that you are always in God’s care, and you covet what you do not possess. This, in turn, makes a person good-natured, generous with affection and friendship. The person who is content with God’s blessings upon him and looks at them with a look of contentment and satisfaction cannot ever envy anyone, or harbor malice toward those around him in anything. Consequently, God protects him from the malice of the envious and the spiteful. In addition, it is worship and drawing near to God. ...
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. ...