DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walk timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President’s outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.

 “We want to see the president,” the man said softly.

“He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.

“We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she said to him.

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t touched.... He was shocked.

“Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent.

The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now.

The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded.

The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

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BUTTERFLY AND COCOON

BUTTERFLY AND COCOON

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.
 

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
 

 

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
 

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
 

What this man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly...

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TRUE WEALTH

TRUE WEALTH

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth.
 

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
 

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
 

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
 

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.”

“We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.”

 “Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.”

 “We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.” 

“We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.” 

“We buy our food, but they grow theirs.” “We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”
 

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how
poor we are.”

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THE BOY AND THE APPLE TREE

THE BOY AND THE APPLE TREE

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by, the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day.
 

One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.
 

“Come and play with me”, the tree asked the boy.
 

“I am no longer a kid, I do not play around trees any more” the boy replied.
 

 “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”
 

“Sorry, but I do not have money, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.”
 

The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.
 

One day, the boy who now turned into a man returned and the tree was excited.
 

“Come and play with me” the tree said.
 

“I do not have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?”
 

“Sorry, but I do not have any house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.” So the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the man never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
 

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted.
 

“Come and play with me!” the tree said.
 

“I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” said the man.
 

“Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.”
 

So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.
 

Finally, the man returned after many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I do not have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you”, the tree said. “No problem, I do not have any teeth to bite” the man replied.

“No more trunk for you to climb on.” “I am too old for that now” the man said.
 

“I really cannot give you anything, the only thing left is my dying roots,” the tree said with tears.
 

“I do not need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the man replied.
 

“Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest, come sit down with me and rest.” The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.
 

This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with our Mum and Dad. When we grow up, we leave them; only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could just to make you happy.

You may think the boy is cruel to the tree, but that is how all of us treat our parents. We take them for granted; we don’t appreciate all they do for us, until it’s too late. Wallahi, May Allah forgives us of our shortcomings and may He guide us.

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THE MILKMAID

THE MILKMAID

A milkmaid was on her way to the market to sell some milk from her cow. As she carried the large jug of milk on top of her head, she began to dream of all the things she could do after selling the milk.
 

“With that money, I’ll buy a hundred chicks to rear in my backyard. When they are fully grown. I can sell them at a good price at the market.”
 

As she walked on, she continued dreaming, “Then I’ll buy two young goats and rear them on the grass close by. When they are fully grown, I can sell them at an even better price!”
 

Still dreaming, she said to herself, “Soon, I’ll be able to buy another cow, and I will have more milk to sell. Then I shall have even more money...”
 

With these happy thoughts, she began to skip and jump. Suddenly she tripped and fell. The jug broke and all the milk split onto the ground.
 

No more dreaming now, she sat down and cried.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

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THE THIRSTY CROW

THE THIRSTY CROW

One hot day, a thirsty crow flew all over the fields looking for water. For a long time, she could not find any. She felt very weak, almost giving up hope.

Suddenly, she saw a water jug below her. She flew straight down to see if there was any water inside. Yes, she could see some water inside the jug!

The crow tried to push her head into the jug. Sadly, she found that the neck of the jug was too narrow. Then she tried to push the jug down for the water to flow out. She found that the jug was too heavy.

The crow thought hard for a while. Then looking around her, she saw some pebbles. She suddenly had a good idea. She started picking up the pebbles one by one, dropping each into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled the jug, the water level kept rising. Soon it was high enough for the crow to drink. Her plan had worked!

If you try hard enough, you may soon find an answer to your problem.

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THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

It was a sunny day and fox was walking across the fields. Soon he came to a vineyard. As he came nearer, he could see some bunches of juicy grapes.

The fox looked carefully around him. He had to make sure that he was safe from the hunters. He decided to steal some before anyone came along.

He jumped upwards but he could not reach the grapes. He jumped again as high as he could. He still could not reach them. The grapes were just too high for him!

He was not ready to give up. He backed off, took some running steps and leapt into the air towards the grapes. Again he failed to reach them.

It was getting dark, and he was getting angry. His legs hurt with all that running and jumping. At last he stopped trying.

As he walked away, he said to himself, “I don’t really want those grapes. I’m sure they are too sour to eat.”

Sometimes when we cannot get what we want, we pretend that it is not worth having.

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THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

A lamb was grazing with a flock of sheep one day. She soon found some sweet grass at the edge of the field. Farther and farther she went, away from the others.

She was enjoying herself so much that she did not notice a wolf coming nearer to her. However, when it pounced on her, she was quick to start pleading, “Please, please don’t eat me yet. My stomach is full of grass. If you wait a while, I will taste much better.”

The wolf thought that was a good idea, so he sat down and waited. After a while, the lamb said, “If you allow me to dance, the grass in my stomach will be digested faster.” Again the wolf agreed. While the lamb was dancing, she had a new idea. She said, “Please take the bell from around my neck. If you ring it as hard as you can, I will be able to dance even faster.”

The wolf took the bell and rang it as hard as he could. The shepherd heard the bell ringing and quickly sent his dogs to find the missing lamb. The barking dogs frightened the wolf away and saved the lamb’s life.

The gentle and weak can sometimes be cleverer than fierce and strong.

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THE FOX AND THE STORK

THE FOX AND THE STORK

A selfish fox once invited a stork to dinner at his home in a hollow tree. That evening, the stork flew to the fox’s home and knocked on the door with her long beak. The fox opened the door and said, “Please come in and share my food.”

The stork was invited to sit down at the table. She was very hungry and the food smelled delicious! The fox served soup in shallow bowls and he licked up all his soup very quickly. However, the stork could not have any of it as the bowl was too shallow for her long beak. The poor stork just smiled politely and stayed hungry.

The selfish fox asked, “Stork, why haven’t you taken your soup? Don’t you like it?”

The stork replied, “It was very kind of you to invite me for dinner. Tomorrow evening, please join me for dinner at my home.”

The next day, when the fox arrived at the stork’s home, he saw that they were also having soup for dinner. This time the soup was served in tall jugs. The stork drank the soup easily but the fox could not reach inside the tall jug. This time it was his turn to go hungry.

A selfish act can backfire on you.

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THE MONKEY AND THE DOLPHIN

THE MONKEY AND THE DOLPHIN

One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of them brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.
 

When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship. Everyone fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown. Suddenly a dolphin appeared and picked him up.

They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the dolphin’s back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”

The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best friend. Do you know that I am actually a prince?”

Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so you are a prince! Now you can be a king!”

The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”

As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are the only creature on this island, you will naturally be the king!”.

Those who lie and boast may end up in trouble.

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THE ANT AND THE DOVE

THE ANT AND THE DOVE

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water. After walking around for some time, she came to a spring. 

To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water. 

She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly plucked off a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to dry ground.

Just at that time, a hunter nearby was throwing out his net towards the dove, hoping to trap it.

Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The dove was quick to fly away to safety.

One good turn deserves another.

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THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

A tortoise one day met a hare who made fun of her. “My, my, you move so slowly, you will never get far!”The tortoises, upset by the hare’s manner, said, “Let’s have a race and see who is faster.”
 

The hare laughed and said, “You must be joking! But all right, we’ll see who reaches the other side of the hill first.” Off he ran, leaving the tortoise far behind.
 

After a while, the hare stopped to wait for the tortoise to come long. He waited and waited till he felt sleepy. “I might as well take a nap,” he thought. “Even if she catches up with me, I can easily win the race.” So he lay down under a shady tree and closed his eyes.
 

When the tortoise passed the sleeping hare, she walked on slowly but steadily. By the time the hare woke up, the tortoise was near the finishing line. He ran as fast as he could, but he could not catch up with the tortoise.

Slow and steady can win the race.

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THE FARMER AND THE STORK

THE FARMER AND THE STORK

Finding that cranes were destroying his newly sown corn, a farmer one evening set a net in his field to catch the destructive birds.

When he went to examine the net next morning he found a number of cranes and also a stork.

“Release me, I beseech you,” cried the stork, “for I have eaten none of your corn, nor have I done you any harm. I am a poor innocent stork, as you may see - a most dutiful bird, I honor my father and mother. I...”

But the farmer cut him short. “All this may be true enough, I dare say, but I have caught you with those were destroying my crops, and you must suffer with the company in which you are found.”

People are judged by the company they keep.

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THE BOY WHO CRIED 'WOLF'

THE BOY WHO CRIED 'WOLF'

Once there was a shepherd boy who had to look after a flock of sheep. One day, he felt bored and decided to play a trick on the villagers. He shouted, “Help! Wolf! Wolf!” The villagers heard his cries and rushed out of the village to help the shepherd boy. When they reached him, they asked,

“Where is the wolf?”

The shepherd boy laughed loudly, “Ha, Ha, Ha! I fooled all of you. I was only playing a trick on you.”

A few days later, the shepherd boy played this trick again. Again he cried, “Help! Help! Wolf! Wolf!” Again, the villagers rushed up the hill to help him and again they found that boy had tricked them. They were very angry with him for being so naughty. Then, some time later, a wolf went into the field. The wolf attacked one sheep, and then another and another. The shepherd boy ran towards the village shouting, “Help! Help! Wolf! Help! Somebody!”

The villagers heard his cries but they laughed because they thought it was another trick. The boy ran to the nearest villager and said, “A wolf is attacking the sheep. I lied before, but this time it is true!” Finally, the villagers went to look. It was true. They could see the wolf running away and many dead sheep lying on the grass.

We may not believe someone who often tells lies, even when he tells the truth.

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LEARN FROM MISTAKES

LEARN FROM MISTAKES

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.”

Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We now know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”

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THE TRAVELERS AND THE PLANE TREE

THE TRAVELERS AND THE PLANE TREE

Two men were walking along one summer day. Soon it became too hot to go any further and, seeing a large plane tree nearby, they threw themselves on the ground to rest in its shade.

Gazing up into the branches one man said to the other: “What a useless tree this is. It does not have fruit or nuts that we can eat and we cannot even use its wood for anything.”

“Don’t be so ungrateful,” rustled the tree in reply.
“I am being extremely useful to you at this very moment, shielding you from the hot sun. And you call me a good-for-nothing!”

All of God’s creations have a good purpose.
Islam teaches us that we should never belittle Allah’s blessings.

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DON'T CHANGE THE WORLD

DON'T CHANGE THE WORLD

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.

 

Definitely, this would need thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do
you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you
just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?”

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy
place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.

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Home

Moral Stories:

01. DON'T CHANGE THE WORLD

02. THE TRAVELERS AND THE PLANE TREE

03. LEARN FROM MISTAKES


04. THE BOY WHO CRIED 'WOLF'

05. THE FARMER AND THE STORK

06. THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

07. THE ANT AND THE DOVE

08. THE MONKEY AND THE DOLPHIN

09. THE FOX AND THE STORK

10. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

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