Laziness is a blameworthy trait. Our true religion has warned us against it and asked us to be active Muslims, for activity is part of hard work. We are required to work hard, continuously, and at a high level so that our Arab nations can rise, advance, and compete with other nations in progress, science, and elevation. But did Filfil realize all these matters?

On the morning of one of the bright days, the teacher Sumaya went to her school to meet her dear children, the male and female students, and give them their lessons as they were all accustomed. The students were waiting for her lessons with great enthusiasm, for she was accustomed to telling them a story containing many, many lessons and morals. As soon as she entered the classroom, the students cheered and smiled at her.

She greeted them and reassured everyone, saying to them, “I will tell you a short story about laziness.” All the boys were excited and listened to her with attention, for they had learned that listening is extremely important, especially when someone older than us speaks to us. When the teacher Sumaya saw them in this condition, she said to them, “May God bless you all. I am proud of these morals of yours. Listen to the story.”

The teacher said, “Fifil was an extremely lazy child. So much so that when he went to his school, instead of listening to his professors and teachers, he would sleep inside the class. When he woke up, of course, he would not remember anything that was said. This, of course, was a bad thing that caused his parents’ anger toward him, in addition to his classmates’ anger in the class. As soon as he entered his class, everyone would start hearing his voice, and he would be in a deep sleep. Of course, his teacher was angry with him. He did not listen to the explanation, and his academic level was extremely low compared to his classmates. The teacher was confused about what she could do toward lazy Filfil.

Fifil would return home, throw his bag on the ground with complete neglect, and go to sleep! Fifil loved sleep very much and would say, “Sleep makes me not listen to explanations or help anyone in doing anything. I love comfort very much.” This angered his mother a lot, for he never listened to her words.

Here the teacher thought to give Fifil a lesson from which he would learn that laziness is an extremely blameworthy thing and that everyone must avoid it. So she brought a programmed stick, adjusted it, and placed it next to Fifil. Whenever Fifil slept, the stick would get up and hit him, causing him intense annoyance. He began to think of a solution to get rid of that stick so he could sleep.

So he went to his friend Helhal and told him about his annoyance with this stick. Helhal was the opposite of Fifil; he was active, hardworking, loved studying, listened to his parents and teachers, and everyone loved him. He laughed a lot when he heard what had happened to Fifil and told him that he would solve this matter for him.

Helhal went, bought another stick, and programmed it to hit Fifil when he slept out of laziness. So Filfil now had two programmed sticks. He could not sleep at home or at school due to the intense hitting. Fifil began to organize his times and became more active than before. He no longer slept and began to strive in his lessons as well. His parents and teacher were very happy with him.

They encouraged him to continue this activity and make activity part of his daily routine. Indeed, Fifil was able to become one of the hardworking boys and obtained excellent grades among his peers. He kept the two sticks with him. Whenever he looked at them, he remembered the lesson he learned and resolved not to be lazy from this day forward.