There was an old man in a village. He was very poor, but even the king of the country were jealous of him because he had a beautiful white horse. The King offered a lot of money in exchange for the horse, but the man would say, “This horse is very precious to me, and I will not sell it for whatever price”.

One morning, he found that the horse was not in the stable. The whole village gathered and they said, “You foolish old man! We knew that someday the horse would be stolen. It would have been better to sell it. What a misfortune!”

The old man said, “Don’t go so far as to say that. Simply say that the horse is not in the stable. This is the fact; everything else is a judgment. Whether it is a misfortune or a blessing who knows?” The whole villagers laughed at the old man.

But after fifteen days, suddenly one night the horse returned. And not only that, it brought along a dozen other wild horses with him. Again the people gathered and they said, “Old man, you were right. This was not a misfortune; it has indeed proved to be a blessing.”

The old man said, “Again you are going too far. Just say that the horse is back . . . Who knows whether it is a blessing or not? It is only a fragment. You read a single word in a sentence-how can you judge the whole book?”
This time the people could not say much, but inside they knew that he was wrong. Twelve beautiful horses had come, how can that be a misfortune.

The old man had an only son who started to train the wild horses. Just a week later he fell from a horse and his legs were broken. The people gathered again and again they judged. They said, “Again you proved right! It was a misfortune. Your only son has lost the use of his legs, and in your old age he was your only support. Now you are poorer than ever.”

The old man said, “You are obsessed with judgment. Don’t go that far. Say only that my son has broken his legs. Nobody knows whether this is a misfortune or a blessing. Life comes in fragments and more is never given to you.”

It happened that after a few weeks the country went to war, and all the young men of the town were forcibly taken for the military. Only the old man’s son was left, because he was crippled. The whole town was crying and weeping, because it was a losing fight and they knew most of the young people would never come back. They came to the old man and they said, “You were right, old man-this has proved a blessing. Maybe your son is crippled, but he is still with you. Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man said again, “You go on and on judging. Nobody knows! Only say this, that your sons have been forced to enter into the army and my son has not been forced. ”

Finally the villagers learn that important lesson

/end story

I’m sure you must have picked up the message behind the story. Whether or not you believe in God, things will always happen in your life. Some are good things, some are bad things.

What’s important is NOT how fortunate or unfortunate we are, it’s how we react to that incident. If for example, the old man immediately be depressed by the lost horse, and start selling all his valuable belongings just to avoid them being stolen, will that be a better solution?

In Islam, we were taught that our whole life is in fact a test. A test for us to be a better person with each test. If we suffer from misfortune like being robbed, we are expected to be patient and try to get back on our feet, start back our life. We are not doing ourselves any good if we blame everyone. We are still not getting back our stuff.

It’s however so much easier to pass the test when it’s a misfortune. It’s more difficult to pass a test when it is a good fortune. How many rich people we know who actually love to share their wealth with the poor people.

– I wonder –
What other lesson do you learn from this story? There are actually quite a few. 🙂

———– Personal Note ————
The story was forwarded to me by a friend. Thank you.

I’m quite busy these few days arranging for a ceremony for Zafirah. She is now 14 days old. The ceremony is to officiate the naming of the baby. A bit tired today. See you guys tomorrow

Photo Credit – Freeparking