The Story of an African King and His Friend
Author: unknown
A story is told about a King in
Africa who had a close friend that he grew
up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every
situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or
negative) by remarking, "This is good, Allah Almighty
knows best" One day the King and his friend were out on
a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare
the guns for the King. The friend had apparently done
something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after
taking the gun from his friend, the King fired it and
his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation
the friend remarked as usual, "This is good! Allah
Almighty knows best." To which the King replied, "No,
this is NOT good!" and ordered his soldiers to put his
friend into jail. About a year later, the King was
hunting in an area that he should have known to stay
clear of. Cannibals captured the King and took him to
their village. They tied his hands,
stacked
some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.
As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed
that the King was missing a thumb. Being superstitious,
they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So after
untying the King, they chased him out of the village.
When the King reached his Palace, he was
reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt
remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went
immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.
"You were right" the King said, "it was good
that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell
the friend all that had just happened. "I am very sorry
for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me
to do this." "No," his friend replied, "this is
good..Allah Almighty knows best" "What do you
mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent
my friend to jail for a year?"
The King's friend replied: "Remember that the
Almighty knows best and if I had NOT been in jail, I
would have been with you on that hunting trip."
"He
knows what is before them And what is behind them: And
to Allah go back All questions (for decision) Qur'an: 22:76
Do Not Judge Things or Events by its Immediate
Outcome! Almighty, the Most High, is the
All-Knowledgeable, the All-Knower... He chooses to show
us things... but sometimes... we are not shown the
wisdom behind
some
things. When we are confronted by circumstances that are
not very pleasing.... we are quick to say: "This is not
good..." but... is it really? We might not know the
purpose behind it. It might turn to be a good thing....
thus.. .when we are faced with any situation... do not
be too quick to judge... always remember.... this life
is a test... the good and the bad.... and there is
nothing that happens for no reason... our brains are
just not gifted enough to understand these reasons yet.
Sometimes ... things happen to us for a reason.
courtesy: Khalid Latif
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