I’ll start !
The King and the Poor Man:
There is a poor man and when I say poor, I mean he is deprived of even the basic necessities of life. He has no power over himself or anything else around him. One day, the King of his country, nay a King who rules over all the Kings of the world invites him to his palace. The next moment, he finds himself in the King’s chambers. It is the most beautiful room he has ever seen with bright lights and sweet scented oils and all things pleasurable to one’s senses. In front of him he sees the King with all his Ministers and the Noblemen sitting in rows talking with each other. But as soon as he enters the room, they all focus their attention on him. The King says: “Say my praise followed by anything that your heart desires and it will be made available to you and afterwards you may eat anything from my table”. He can see the King’s table laden with tender bird meat and different fruits and drinks. So he begins to speak. But just as he opens his mouth, he sees a servant in the far end of the hall walking a dog out of the hall and in that dog’s mouth is a piece of rotten meat. This man, not able to control his hunger, runs after the dog, snatches the rotten piece of meat and starts eating it. The King and his company are disgusted by his behavior and he is thrown out of the palace
Any one of us can compare ourselves to this person. We are poor and helpless in front of the Almighty. We are invited to His palace each day with the ‘adhaan’. We find in worship Him and the Angels and the Prophets all with their attentions focused upon us. We know that if we stay patient through a short period of time (the ‘duniya’) and please the Almighty, nothing but good awaits us. But then, if we are unmindful of the Almighty during our worship and entertain worldly thoughts, we have chosen a piece of rotten meat over all the good that if we are patient and obedient, could be ours.
The Thirsty Man:
There is a man at a gathering of friends. They are having a good time. The host leaves to get everyone something to drink. This man however, is very thirsty and goes to the kitchen after the host to get himself a glass of water. When he gets there, he sees the host pouring poison into all the drinks. He does not know why, but he does not want to confront him, so he returns back to the room. He sits down quietly, not telling anyone about the incident. Soon enough, the host comes in with the drinks and puts them in front of them. This person not only does not warn the others about the drinks, but he is so thirsty that he drinks from them himself.
This person is similar to one who knows the gravity of indulging in worldly pleasures/sins (the poison) but does nothing to stay away from them and does not warn others about them.
I like the second one :k:
