A Clever Dog and his Employer

A butcher watching over his shop is really surprised when he sees a dog coming inside the shop. He shoos him away. But later, the dog is back again.

So, he goes over to the dog and notices he has a note in his mouth. He takes the note and it reads "Can I have 12 sausages and a leg of lamb, please. The dog has money in his mouth, as well."

The butcher looks inside and, lo and behold, there is a ten dollar bill there. So he takes the money and puts the sausages and lamb in a bag, placing it in the dog's mouth. The butcher is so impressed, and since it's about closing time, he decides to close up shop and follow the dog.

So off he goes. The dog is walking down the street when he comes to a level crossing.

The dog puts down the bag, jumps up and presses the button. Then he waits patiently, for the lights to turn. They do, and he walks across the road, with the butcher following him all the way.

The dog then comes to a bus stop, and starts looking at the timetable.

The butcher is in awe at this stage. The dog checks out the times, and then sits on one of the seats provided. Along comes a bus. The dog walks around to the front, looks at the number, and goes back to his seat.

Another bus comes. Again the dog goes and looks at the number, notices it's the right bus, and climbs on. The butcher, by now is open-mouthed, follows him onto the bus.

The bus travels through the town and out into the suburbs, the dog Looking at the scenery. Eventually he gets up, and moves to the front of the bus. He stands on 2 back paws and pushes the button to stop the bus. Then he gets off, his groceries still in his mouth.

Well, dog and butcher are walking along the road, and then the dog turns into a house. He walks up the path, and drops the groceries on the step.

Then he walks back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself against the door. He goes back down the path, runs up to the door and again, it throws himself against it. There's no answer at the house, so the dog goes back down the path, jumps up on a narrow wall, and walks along the perimeter of the garden. He gets to the window, and beats his head against it several times, walks back, jumps off, and waits at the door.

The butcher watches as a big guy opens the door, and starts abusing the dog, kicking him and punching him, and swearing at him.

The butcher runs up, and stops the guy. "What in heaven's name are You doing? The dog is a genius. He could be on TV, for the life of me!" to which the guy responds: "You call this clever? This is the second time this week that this stupid dog's forgotten his key."

Reflection:

Looks like some, people will never be satisfied with what they've got.

When it comes to the work place, Employers do not know how to appreciate their people who have served them loyally through the years. I've seen companies lose good people for the simple fact their leaders failed to show appreciation. Employers with big egos enjoy the fact that they have more power and authority than others. They show, in the way they give orders and directions, that they think they are superior. They get a kick out of displaying this superiority. People who do this are fools, and everyone but them knows it. They are never satisfied because they could not be satisfied even if their people perform well.

They don't listen to the opinion and ideas of their subordinates.

Why? Because of their stupid pride and insecurity.

People of this kind will never be satisfied. Why? Because they are so busy wrapped up in themselves and, fact is, the self can never be satisfied. Happy and productive people are always those who are "others-centered" rather than "self- centered." The greatest idea of leadership is not someone who throws his weight around. Rather, he is a servant. , "He who wish to be a leader should first be a servant."

His joy is derived from delivering a job that others benefit from his contribution. Aim for service and success will follow.

A Stranger

“A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother, Yusuf, five years my senior, was my example. Samya, my younger sister, gave me an opportunity to play ‘big brother’ and develop the art of teasing. My parents were complementary instructors– Mom taught me to love Allah, and Dad taught me to how to obey Him. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening. If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science, he knew it.
He knew about the past and seemed to understand the present. The pictures he could draw were so life like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Yusuf and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several famous people.
The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn’t seem to mind-but sometimes Mom would quietly get up– while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places– go to her room, read the Qur’an.
I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house– not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm.. To my knowledge, the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn’t permit alcohol in his home – not even for cooking.
But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often.
He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (probably too much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
I know now that my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by the stranger.
As I look back, I believe it was Allah’s Mercy that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly so intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if I were to walk into my parents’ den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name you ask? We called him TV.

The Weeping Willow

The darkness had arrived. But it didn't make a difference to the Tree. Day and night were the same. The Tree would stand alone. The morning light provided no comfort, except for, of course, the fact that it was essential for the sun to shine sometimes in order to survive. Survival of the fittest, The Tree smiled bitterly to himself. But only The Tree wasn't the fittest. In fact it was barely surviving. Loneliness is a killer......'Your too far out' they would say. 'It's not a proper place for our kind.' Meaning what? Am I not a tree, like you?

He knew the truth. It had nothing to do with the location as their branches reached out far and wide. He knew full well what they meant by 'our kind.' He was of an odd nature compared to them. His branches drooped whilst theirs expanded out. His trunk was hidden by waves of shadow, even if it was to be seen it was crumbled and wrinkled unattractive to the eye. Theirs a deep brown, strong and hard, perfect for climbing. Their leaves green, a forest green. But depending on seasonal change they shone golden and orange and at peak times they jeweled red. Not to forget being decorated with the pink and white blossoms under the crisp spring sky.

And me......Pale yellow fragile leaves, which naturally drooped as the downturn of a mouth would. In the rain they would become brown and give away to nothingness. Nothing but the remains of unwanted mess under shoes squelching in the mud. At my best, my leaves would turn a light shade of green (I rather like the colour) but my fellow trees would still scorn. Ooooh fancy that, faded green, who's known a tree to be of that colour. Indeed you are strange species. Rejected and hurt, I turn away. I have still some dignity left, I do not let them see me weep. I try to lift myself, but to no avail. I am weighed down by my branches. And there I remain. I stand alone again.

But then one early morning, before the morning sun rose, my life changed. Dramatically. Oh I will never forget that day of sweet sounding melody. I awoke like I do; just in time to see the pink horizon. This is my daily dose of hope of a better day. And the Lord above chose today to be that day, Alhamdulillah! (how can I not praise my Lord, the bestower of unexpected bounties). I felt a movement against me. Ok wake up, dream time finish, I told myself, you know in reality there is never any sign of life around me. But there it was again. The shuffling, the exclamations of delight, the warmth of a presence. Allahu Akbar! This was no dream. This was a different kind of motion. Whilst I was trying to figure out what this was, earnestly frowning at this strange visitor. The most beautiful sound came out. If I had a heart it would literally stop. Pleasure was not something I was familiar with, but this I knew to be pure pleasure. I crouched further to be in closer range so i could make out the words. And did they flow out. They carried out to reach the heavens I'm sure.

They said, "Alif Lam Mim.
This is the Book, whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al Muttaqoon.
Who beleive in the Ghaib and perform As salat and spend out of what we have provided for them, (spend on themselves, their parents, their children, their wives and also give in charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause)."
{Al Baqarah: 1-3}

I knew then what it was. It was The Book that our Lord had blessed the humans with. The divine scripture promised to be protected by God Himself. And I the weeping willow was shelter to the reciter of these beautiful words. Never had any object of nature reached such a status to give refuge to one reading the Qur'an. This person had voluntarily come to me. Out of all the trees, I was the most appropriate location. Why? Because it was the humility of my branches that stood out against all the upright boastful trees.

This person did not want their identity to be known out of shyness. She wanted to be hidden from everything else but Allah as it was Allah's Pleasure alone she was seeking. She knew the angels would surround the recitation at dawn time and she wanted them to go and report to Allah. We knew while the world was sleeping we were awake in harmony. How blessed I felt at that moment. Allah chose the ground under me to bear witness to her faith. In that instance I recalled the story of the tree that cried when the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) moved away from it. I could now empathize the loss it must have felt. This moment, this memory will only die with me and not before.

I no longer wallowed in my loneliness, instead I looked forward to the morning dawn as my beautiful earthling would use my branches to carry out the Words of Allah to the world. Alhamdulillah I am The Weeping Willow, with a new meaning to life.

You can imagine how much the recitation of the following verses delighted me as they rose to the top of my trunk . I felt beautiful like I had never felt before. A true honour for the creation of His Majesty's trees...

"See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky.
Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord, and Allah sets parables for mankind in order that they may remember.
And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of earth, having no stability.
Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allah will cause to go astray those who are zaalimun and Allah does what He wills."
{Ibrahim: 24-27}

The Story of The Blind Sheikh Who Could Read the Holy Qur’an

One time a man saw the Holy Quran in the house of an old blind Saint. He happened to stay as a guest in this blind Saint's house during the summer time. For a good while the two Saints lived pleasantly. After some time, however, he thought that the presence of this Holy Quran is very surprising because this man is strictly blind and he cannot read it. He tried to comfort himself by thinking that someone else may be living here and reading the Quran, but when he gained certainty that this man lives alone and no one else lives here, his uneasiness and confusion increased. Then he thought, ‘ I cannot be informal and ill mannered and just ask him the reason forthright, now what should I do?’ Then he decided to himself, ‘No, I will not do anything. In fact I should stay quiet and adopt patience so that, through the blessings of patience I can reach my aim’. In the end, he was patient. For a few days, he remained in distress, but after a few more days, the secret was revealed to him; because patience is the source to success. Through the blessings (barkaat) of patience, his success was indefinite. Before we go on with the details of his success, it seems appropriate to advise a bit on patience.

You should be patient because patience is a glorious blessing (AZEEM UL SHAAN Nemat). Through its blessings you will gain freedom from your distress and be cured from all your old diseases in which you are involved. Remember, that patience has a very big role in the revelation (inkishaaf) of thousands of secrets, given no larger matter is at hand. And although, according to your Nafs (inner-self), patience is disliked its result is extremely pleasant. Now we will lecture on an incident reflecting how patience is the key to secrets being revealed to you.

So, this guest adopted patience and immediately the condition of the blind Saint was unveiled to him. This is what happened

In the middle of the night he heard the recitation of the Holy Quran and due to this, he sat up. He saw the perplexing situation of the blind Saint reading the Quran. His reading was perfectly accurate. From seeing this, he became overwhelmed and asked the blind Saint, 'Hazrat, what is the secret behind this? When there is no light in your eyes, then how can you see? How can you read like this? I see that whatever you are doing recitation of, that is the exact place of your eyes attention and that is where your hand is pointing. The movement of your finger shows that undoubtedly you can see each word of each verse.' He replied, 'You are a Saint with elevated ranks and you are separate from the ignorant ones; why do you have surprise in the miracles of Allah? I requested from Allah that I have extreme passion to read the Quran and it is dear to me as my life is dear.

 I am not Haafiz that I could read from my memory, so give my eyes light during the times I want to read the Quran so I don't have difficulty in reading. And when I want to recite, then give me eyes so that I can take the Quran and read it word for word. So, the response came from Haq Subhaana ,'You are a valuable man and in every distress you relied only on me for the solution and this is your good faith and high hope due to which I give you even more closeness to me in every way. In other words, I promise you that I will give you eyes so that, Oh Precious Creation! You can read the Quran.' Then, He did just that. Whenever I opened the Quran to read it, that Wise Secret who is never careless from anything and that Respected Being that has no partners, grants me enlightened eyes.'----

Now that this story has reached an end, listen. The Wali that does not do any criticism on the acts of Allah, in fact he follows without chun o chura, one reason is this;

he knows that Allah gives equal in return for that thing which He takes. If He burns your garden, He will give you grapes; in the midst of distress, He grants you happiness and comfort. He gives hands to the handicapped; those in worry, He makes their hearts drunk with His Love. The Wali knows that when he’s getting greater in return from that which he even planned for, he leaves all chun o chura and criticism; because in this case criticism is useless.

 For example, if we get heat without fire, then why should we complain or be distressed if our fire goes out? And if He gives you sight without eyes, then what worry do you have that you are blind? This blindness in itself is a great enlightenment/sight! What reason is there for worry? And if you are getting light without a candle, in this case, if He blows out your candle, then what is the reason for your ‘haee’ and sighs of distress?

The summary is that Haq Ta'ala has made thousands of high level sources to reveal the essence of the heart. But mankind does not have any greater cure than patience. From this, you can estimate what great treasure patience is.

LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I
immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I
wasn't looking, I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my
favorite cake for me and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say
a
prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always
talk to and I learned to trust in God.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give
of
your time and money to help people who had nothing
and I learned that those who have something should
give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take
care of our house and everyone in it and I learned
we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come
from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you
cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I
wasn't looking, I looked at you
and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I saw
when you thought I wasn't looking."




LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT.

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt,
uncle,
teacher or friend) influence the life of a child.
How will you touch the life of someone today?
Just by sending this to someone else, you will
probably make them at least think about their
influence on others .