Wisdom

The sun rose at the beginning of a new day in my life. God had begun to grant me the treasure of the twenty-four hours. But I found myself grieving somewhat, so I spent this day at home and did not go to school. Visit to the Grandmother and Grandfather: For I lived with my grandfather and my grandmother. I went to them to reassure myself about my sick grandfather. He was every day sleeping on the bed, wandering in thought. He would repeat my name: when would I become and when would I sleep? He loved me intensely. ...

Samr entered upon her father and saw him sitting at a table reading in a book. She approached him, asking: “Father, will you take me to the public park today? The weather is beautiful and the scenery is charming.” Her father looked at his little daughter smilingly and said: “I will take you, O my little sparrow. Wait a little until I finish reading the remaining page.” Samr rejoiced and began to contemplate the things upon the table. She saw white papers and a red wax candle, pens placed in a wooden box, and a small earth globe whose blue surface she was touching, mounted on a metal base. ...

One day there was a great king named Sharīf, and he had two sons. The older was named Rafīq and the younger ʿAdil. When the king died, Rafīq became the new king. The King and the Sorceress: On the first night of his kingship, he requested of the soothsayers to bring him all the sorceresses in the lands and ask them what would happen to his kingdom if the neighboring kingdoms waged war against him and seized its throne. One of the strongest sorceresses of the lands answered and said: “Your people will hate you and strive to kill your elder brother.” All the other sorceresses agreed with her according to their magic. ...

Nabīl the little, son of the skilled fisherman Ḥasan, used to go out every day with his father to watch him, during his work in fishing, to witness what he did in amazement. One morning, Nabīl ascended to the surface of the boat. As soon as the engine started, amidst the blue waters of the sea, the fishermen began to prepare their nets to obtain the largest quantity of fish. ...

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. ...

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. ...

In a large city in the lands of India, it is recounted that a man named Sanjam worked in washing, cleaning, and dyeing clothes. The front of his shop was always filled with clean, colorful clothes that he would hang beautifully. He was energetic in his work and never failed a single appointment with his customers. The Potter Hilāl: Working near him was the potter Hilāl, who made jars of clay. But he was lazy and greedy in his selling, so he did not have many customers like his neighbor Sanjam. The potter Hilāl envied his neighbor Sanjam for his work and said to himself: “I will do an evil turn to my neighbor!” ...

Awrā was a very beloved princess in the kingdom. She was distinguished by kindness, gentleness, and beauty. Her parents lived in a beautiful palace that contained everything she desired of things, except one single thing which she had longed for greatly since her childhood: knowing the moon. There were many kings who wished to realize the princess’s dream. They feared they would never be able to realize it, for there was an evil sorceress living in the kingdom. She had worked magic when the princess was a small child, and this magic made the princess fall asleep at night to sleep, distressed by the mere disappearance of the sun. She could never awaken at that time. ...

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. ...