Four Seasons of a Tree

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no-- it was covered with gree buds and full of promise. The thrid son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; the said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfullment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but ONLY one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are-- and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from the life-- can only be measure at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.

Allah's blessings are countless..

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once told the story of a worshipper who lived in total isolation for 1000 years, doing nothing but worshipping Allah. When this man died, Allah ordered the angels to take him to Heaven by the Mercy of Allah. The man disagreed, stating that he should go to Heaven as a result of his own work, his 1000 years of worship. Allah then ordered His angels to settle the man's account.The angels put the worshipper's work on one scale of the balance and on the other they started by putting the blessing of eyesight. The scale carrying only the eyesight blessing was much heavier. The man then shouted, 'By your mercy, O Allah, by your mercy!'. Allah replied. 'Take my servant to Heaven by My Mercy.'

There is a Bank That Credits Your Account Each Morning with $86,400

There is a Bank than credits your account each morning with $86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out ALL of it, of course!!!!

Each of us has such a Bank.

It's name is TIME.

Every morning, it credits you with 86, 400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back.
There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it carefully with wisdom and knowledge.

Use your Time to do good and Charity;

To faithfully practice the Five Pillars and your Deen.
To faithfully give thanks to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'alah;
To adhere to the teachings of the Sunnah of His Beloved Messenger Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam (SAW).
In order that you may benefit the utmost in blessing and guidance in your life and live in peach, happiness, good health and success!

The clock is running.
Make the most of it everyday.

Star working on your 'Time'

................................................................................................................................

Surah Al 'Asr
(By the Token of TIME)

By (the Token of) Time (through the Ages), Verily Man Is in loss, Except such as have faith And do righteous deeds, in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

(Qur'an 103: 1-3)

The Artificial Pearl

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading brown eyes of her little girl's upturned face. A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00.

"If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Fatima got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbour and asked Mrs. Patel if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Fatima loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, weekends, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Fatima had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Fatima:

"Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favourite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night" and he brushed her cheek with a kiss."

About a week later, after the story time, Fatima's daddy asked again:

"Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. Allah bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss."

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Fatima was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian- style, as he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Fatima? What's the matter?"

Fatima didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said:

"Here, daddy, those are for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Fatima's daddy reached out with one hand to take the artificial necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Fatima.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure...

So it is, with Allah, our Creator (Khaliq). He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Are you holding onto things that Allah wants you to let go of? Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing.....

Allah will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.