‘Abdullah was an energetic person but lacking in certain skills. One
day, he left his home to pray Dhuhr in the mosque. It was his zeal for the
prayer and respect for his religion which brought him out to pray. He was
walking fast in order to reach the mosque before the Iqamah was given. On his
way, he passed by a date-palm tree on top of which there was a man in uniform,
working on the tree. ‘Abdullah became surprised and thought, “Who
is this man that does not care about the prayer! It is as if he didn’t even
hear the Adhan, or doesn’t care about the Iqamah, which is about to go!”
He shouted in anger, “Get down and pray!”
The man responded coldly, “OK, OK…”
He said, again, “Hurry up and pray, you donkey!”
The man screamed, “You called me a donkey?!” He then took a branch
of the tree and descended in order to hit him over the head with it! ‘Abdullah
hid his face with his headscarf so the man wouldn’t recognise him and went on
to the mosque. The man descended from the tree in anger, went to his house, prayed
and rested for a while. He then returned to the tree to finish his job. Then
‘Asr time came and ‘Abdullah went to the mosque again. On his way he passed by
the same tree and noticed the same man working. He decided to change his method
altogether and said, ‘As-salamu ‘alaykum! How are you?”
The man replied, “Al-hamdulillah, I am fine!”
He said, “Give me some good news. How are the dates this year?”
The man said, “Al-Hamdulillah.”
‘Abdullah said, “May Allah give you success and provision, make
your life easy for you, and not deprive you of the reward for your work!”
The man was overjoyed at hearing this supplication and said ameen
to the prayer.
‘Abdullah then said, “It seems that you are so preoccupied with
work that perhaps you didn’t notice the Adhan for ‘Asr prayer. The Adhan has
been called and the Iqamah is about to be
given. Perhaps you should get down, relax a little and get ready for
prayer. After the prayer you can get on with your work again. May Allah keep
you healthy.”
The man said, “InshaAllah… InshaAllah…” and began to descend gently.
He then turned to ‘Abdullah, shook his hand warmly and said, “I
would like to thank you for your excellent manners. As for the one who passed
by me at Dhuhr time, I wish I could see
him and show him who the real donkey is!”
The result…
Your skills of dealing with others determine how they deal with
you.
