The Mulla's Son

Once upon a time, almost four hundred years ago, there lived a king called Akbar. He was such a great king, and he ruled over such a great part of India, that he was called on emperor. Emperor Akbar lived in Delhi. Here he had a huge palace and a strong fort. At his court there were many famous people. There were artists and musicians. There were dancers and poets. There were clever scientists and writer's too. There was also a very funny man at his court. This man's name was Mulla Do Piyaza. Mulla Do Piyaza made the Emperor laugh. When the Emperor was sad he called for the Mulla. Where is my friend Do piyaza? Bring him to me now.' The servants in the court went off in all directions. Soon Mulla Do Piyaza was brought in front of the Emperor. And very soon ofter that the Emperor forgot all his troubles. He rolled about with laughter. Mulla Do Piyaza really was a very funny man. He always had something to say. Nothing surprised him and nothing shocked him. He always had a quick answer for any question. One morning the Mulla said goodbye to his wife and young son. He went off to the court to amuse the king with his clever words and his jokes. While he was at the court his son, who was only six years old, began to behave very badly. He did something naughty. His mother the Mulla's wife, got got very angry with the small boy. You bad boy she shouted and chased him out of the room. The little boy was frightened. He ran to his own room and hid under the bed. His mother knew where he was but she decided to leave him there. The little boy stayed under the bed. He stayed there all through the afternoon, till the evening. Quite late in the evening, Mulla Do Piyaza came home. When he came into the house, his wife told him about their son. Our son behaved very badly, she said I chased him and he ran and hid under his bed. He has been there all day. I am worried about him now but I don't want to go and pull him out. You go to him dear husband. Talk to him sweetly and ask him to come out and have some dinner. Mulla Do Piyaza went immediately to his son's room. He went to the bed and peeped under it. Yes, there was his son, resting peacefully against the wall. The Mulla did not want to frighten his son. He lay on the floor and put his head right under ther bed. The little boy turned towards his father with a bright smile on his face. Hello Father he said Have you been punished too? Never mind. There is plenty of room under here for both of us. Crawl right in and make yourself comfortable. Mulla Do Piyaza had nothing to say. For the first time in his life he found himself speechless! He crawled under the bed and joind his son.  

The mouse and his daughter

Many years ago there lived an old mouse called Eluka. His house was on the bank of the river Jhelum. Eluka lived with his beautiful little doughter, Anika. Every day she grew more beautiful. Her father was quite amazed at her beauty.One day Eluka walked along the bank of the river. After some time he lay down on the green and looked up into the sky. He was worried. He had to find a husband for his doughter. Where am I going to find a handsome husband for Anika?' he thought. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky above. Suddenly Eluka jumped up. He pointed to the sun and shouted with delight. There is a groom fit for my pretty girl!' Eluka ran all the way home. He did not waste any time. He packed his small bag and set off at once for the sun's palace. At last Eluka arrived at the sun's palace. Everything shone like gold. The sun was very surprised to see the small, old mouse. What do you want old mouse?' asked the sun. 'O sun!' said Eluka, in a squeaky voice, 'You are strong and you are very handsome. Please will you take my daughter to be your wife. The sun did not want to marry a mouse. Oh dear me!' he said. He did not want to upset the old mouse, so he smiled and said, 'My friend, I am not strong. Look at those clouds over there. I cannot shine when they pass over me. They are much stronger. Why don't you ask them.The unhappy mouse picked up his bag and left the palace. He went to the clouds. One cloud was big and white. Eluka went up to the cloud and asked. 'Oh big, white cloud! You are big and strong, and handsome too. Will you mary me beautiful daughter. Small mouse, ' thundered the cloud, I may be strong and handsome. But I am not as strong as the North Wind. You should see what I look like when he is angry! He blows me all over the land and the sea. He makes me black and I look frightening. Try the North Wind, my friend. Now Eluka was very sad. He wen home. If the North Wind sees me beautiful doughter, he will surely marry her,' he thought. But the North Wind lived a long way off, high up in the snowy mountains. Eluka took Anika with him and went him to see the North Wind. After a long journey the two mice arrived at the home of the North Wind. Will you marry me beautiful daughter, O mighty wind? he begged. The North Wind howled. Don't think I am strong and mighty, he said, Come with me and I will show you someone who is much stronger than I am. The North Wind howled even louder. With a WHOOSH picked up the tow small mice and carried them close to their own home. very gently and carefully the North Wind put the two mice down next to a tall tower. The tower was old. The North Wind said to Eluka, 'Look at that tower. It has been standing there for a hundred years. I blow and blow, but it still won't tumble down. I am not as strong as the tower. Ask the tower to marry your daughter.' The North Wind blew away. Eluka and Anika walked sadly towards the tower.

Come on my dear.' said Eluka. 'Our house is not far from here. If the tower says no, we will go home.' Eluka asked the tower to marry Anika. The tower  creaked and groaned. I am old and ugly,' he said. ' Next year I will surely fall down. The mice that live in my walls are eating me up. They are strong. L will be happy if your daughter marries one of them.' Eluka and Anika entered the tower. They met the mice who lived in the towe. Mr and Mrs Tower Mouse invited them into their home for a cup of tea. Anika met their son, Inoki. He was handsome and brave. Soon a grand wedding was arranged, Anika married Inoki, and they lived happily together for many years. Old Eluka lived with them. He spent many happy hours playing with his grandchildren.

A Flash of Light

It was a cold day and Valentine Huay walked briskly down the cobbled street. It was getting dark and he was in a neighbourhood he was not very familiar with. He was on his way home and was thinking about the warm room and the glowing  fire that would greet him on his arrival. A carriage pulled by horses rattled past as Valentine reached the corner of the street. To avoid being trampled by the horses, he stepped back on to the pavement. 

      Befor Valentine could cross the road, he heard a rustling sound behind him. He turned and saw in the shadows of a wide doorway a man standing with his hat in his hand. 'Please, sir said the man, spare some money for a poor blind beggar.Valentine was a kind man and had thought a lot about the problems of blind people. He had often wondered how he could be of help to the blind. Seeing the blind beggar he at once removed one of his gloves, and putting his hand into his pocket pulled from it a coin which he put in the blind beggar's hat. 

       The blind beggar thanked him and Valentine walked away. He was halfway acrossthe road when he heard the beggar call out, 'Sir, sir! Please, just a moment.'

Valentine turned once again and returned to face the blind man. 'Surely, sir,' said the beggar who was on honest man, 'you have a made; you have given me a franc instead of a sou.The words of the beggar astonished Valentine. He was not surprised by the man's honesty but by the fact that he could tell so quickly the difference between a franc and a sau. How did you know that i had given you a franc? asked Valentine. 'Oh,' replied the beggar, 'it is enough for me to pass my finger over it. This was like a flash light. Valentine allowed the beggar to keep the franc although it was a greate deal of money in those days. As he continued his walk he thought to himself, It the blind can distinguish at the least touch a piece of money, why should they not distinguish a mark, a letter or a figure?In short, they should be able to distinguish any sign so long as it is raised.

        With this idea Valentine took home a blind boy whom he found begging at a church door.The blind boy became his first pupil and learnt very quickly how to read from raised signs. With the help of money raised from the public, Valentine Hauy was able to start a school for the blind. Some years later, a blind man called Louis Braille (1809-52) also a Frenchman like Valentine hauy, perfected a system of writing specially for the blind. 

        

 

So You Think You Can Divide!

There was once an old man who had three sons and saventeen camels. The sons were called Hameed, Naeem and Rafiq. The father was getting very old and one day he called his sons together and said, 'Boys, I am old and one of these days I will die. When I am gone please promise me that you won't quarrel over my camels. I want you to divide the camels in this way. Hameed, you are the oldest and you must have half the camels. Naeem, You are the second and you must take a third. Rafiq will get a ninth.'  

       The boys promised not to quarrel but do exactly as their father had commanded. A few days later when the father died, the boys arranged the funderal and when that was over they got down to the business of sharing the camels.Hameed, the eldest boy, said, 'Father wanted me to have half the camels, but half of seveteen is eight and a half. How can I take half a camel? The best idea would be for me to take nine camels and you two can share the rest.' 

        The others did not agree. Naeem said, 'You are already getting the biggest share. Why should you get half a camel more? It's best that you take eight.' Hameed said that it was a good idea but it was not according to their father's wish. The youngest, Rafiq, interrupted: 'How about selling one camel and then dividing the money?' The other two did not agree to this suggestion. 'Then what about killing one camel and feeding the village in memory of our father?' asked Rafiq.

         'What!' shouted Hameed, 'waste a good camel by feeding the whole village? you most be crazy!' The argument went an and on. Every time one of the sons made a suggestion, the other two disagree with it. Their voices got louder and louder; their faces got redder and redder and there was much stamping of feet and shaking of fists. When the argument was at its height, a man came by leading a camel by a rope. The man was a holy man who happened to be passing by. 

           'Now, my brother,' said the holy man, 'I' m sorry to inerrupt your discussion but can I be of any help? It is not very good to fight and shout at each other; you may burst a blood vessel.' Well Holy man, ' said Hameed, 'We are quarrelling over the inheritance that was bequeathed to us by our father.

       

We did not mean to quarrel but there doesn't seem to be a solution to our problem. The holy man  listened to their story. When they had told him the story, he smiled and said, 'Here, take my camel and see how that will help in your sharing, We can't do that, ' replied the brothers. 'It's very kind of you, but you must not give up your camel.  The holy man smiled kindly. 'No, no, please take it. if God will, I shall not be the poorer for it.' He gave them the camel. With the holy man's camel there were now eighteen camels. Hameed took His share of half that was nine camels; Naeem took a third that was six camels; and Rafiq took a ninth that was two camels. Suddenly the brothers stood quite still. They were struck with amazement for there, standing by itself, was the holy man's camel. The holy man bent down and took up the rope which was tied to his camel. ' You see, my friends,' he said softly, 'there is no need to quarrel. Everything can be settled in a friendly manner if we try.' He waved goodbye and went on this way.

A True Muslim

            To be a Muslim is a greate blessing of Allah. It is indeed His mercy to make us believe in Allah and his prophet (A.S); the final one being the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The hallmark of a true Muslim is the magnanimity of heart. A true Muslim believes that Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. He remains conscious that Allah knows all the facts even the innermost secrets of hearts. He believes that man can grap only that part of His knowledge which Allah wills. He spends good, worthy things in the name of Allah. He knows that if he gives alms to the poor secretly, it will be, hopefully enough, atonement for some of his sins. A good Muslim is ever eager to seek knowledge. He is clean, brave and pure. He does his duty well. He tries to attain excellence in every field of life. He she offers prayers punctually five five times a day. A true Muslim believes that good deeds endure for rich rewards in the hereafter. It is indeed a great privilege to be a Muslim.  

The Monsoon / A Rainy Day

                    In the first week of July, sky was heavily overcast and rain clouds swept across the sky. Strong south westerly winds that blew over the Indian Ocean, brought the monsoon clouds which caused a lot of rain. South westerly monsoon is refeshingly cool and it brings relief to the gasping, heat-stricken people. So it did in July when the temperature rose alarmingly high. Newspapers carried reports of deaths by heat-stroke or exhaustion and the death-toll was mounting every day. A night before it had been oppressively hot and humind. It was dazzling sunrise and the moist dew on the grass glittered in the sunshine. Surprisingly the wind rustled through the swaying tops of trees. That was just splendid. The humid heat was gone in no time. We saw the rolling mass of black clouds across the sky. There was a flash of lightning, quickly followed by a clap of thunder. Large rain drops began to fall. The moment they fell, the dry earth sucked them. It was followed by a heavy shower. In the soothing shadows of dark clouds the streets were turned into streams. The high walls were drenched, the tree-leaves sparkled in glee. Low-lying areas were flooded.The young and the old alike ran up and down the flooded streets. There were scenes of jubilation all around. It rained for about one hour. Light vehicles broke down on the flooded roads. Motor-cyclists slipped and fell in pools of water.  

Haste Makes Waste

                         A hunter had a beautiful hound who always went hunting with him. The end of the hunters's only son who loved to play with the dog. The master also loved the hound for its friendship with his young son who was only ten years old. The master of the house had no one else in the house. One day, the hunter went out hunting but forgot to take the hound with him. His son was still asleep in his bed. As he reached the edge of the forest he found that he had forgotten to bring the hound with him. He decided to go back and bring the hound. He came home but was afraid to see his hound all bloodstained standing at the gate. The hunter thought that the hound had killed his son. He whipped out his sword and killed the dog. He quickly walked into the house and saw blood pools here and there. Just then he saw his son coming out of his room. The boy told his father how a wolf had come into the house and was about to kill him when the hound pounced upon it and tore it into pieces. The hunter began to cry at his haste in killing the faithful creature.

Complete Story

                             Once a farmer had three grown-up sons. They always quarrelled among themselves. Their father advised them to live in peace but it had no effect on them. He was worried about their future. One day the farmer fell seriously ill. He sent dor his sons. He asked them to collect a handful of sticks which they did at once. He tied the sticks into a bundle. 

                        Now, he asked them to break the bundle one by one. They tried hard to break it but none could. At last the farmer untied the bundle and asked each of them to break each stick. They did so quite easily. Their father said, "My dear sons, you could not break the sticks as long as they remained tied together but you broke each single stick quite easily. They were strong in bundle but became weak when separated from one another. Never forget that united we stand and divided we fall.This had a deep effect on the farmer's sons. They gave up quarrelling and began to live in peace.          

A Visit To A Hospital

                  A clash took place between tow rival parties in which three persons received bullet injuries. My father went to the enquire about the health of one of the injured. I accompanied him one day and saw the pitiable condition of patients in the ward. There were about 30 beds with patients either lying or reclining. About half a dozen of patients were moaning miserably and their condition was critical. One of them stopped moaning after about half an hour and Iwas shocked to learn that he had expired. After a couple of hospital formalities, the dead body was handed over to his relatives. In the nearby outdoor department of the hospital there were pathetic scenes. Ailing children were wailing, a few women suffering from some disease were lying out under a tree. They looked more like skeletons. An unconscious patient was being carried on a stretcher. Some boys were brought on cots with fractured bones. A profusely bleeding women, injured in an accident, was being taken to the casualty ward. There were some bandaged patients who winced with pain. The courtyard and the corridors were crowded and the sight of suffering was unbearable. before leaving the hospital I muttered sincere prayers for the recovery of patients.  

A Dream

                     A couple of nights ago I had a terrible dream. Strangely enough, I found myself rigth on the roof-top of a three-storey building. It was probably our ancestral house at Sankhatra. The view from the top was magnificent. The far and wide green fields, the winding road and the far off misty hills had a perfect setting. Suddenly, I felt a jolt and the building began to move sideways, like a swing. It was an earthquake jerk. A terrific jerk made the building lean dangerously, and then the top storey along with me lay on the ground like fallen tree. I saw it fall so vividly as if I was awake. Luckily I was not hurt at all. Then I saw a tall, mighty tree. Its leaves and branches disappeared suddenly as if by magic. Its huge trunk began to shake and then it crashed with a tearing sound. I woke up and felt horrified. I began to recite verses of the Holy Quran and I felt a bit relaxed in about half an hour. 

A River In Flood

                      Last Summer I happend to be in my village, about 20 miles south of Jhang. for over a week the wet spell had been a delightful experience. The rain was driven in sharp bursts by the rushing wind. One morning on the early hours there went up a cry "water, water". The Chenab was in flood.There was water in our big courtyard. The low-lying part of the village was under three feet of water.panic gripped the whole village.There were bushels on almost every head. Most of the folks started moving through the flooded fields towards the nearby high mound.It was a scene of greate misery. From the corner of the high mound I had the first glimpse of the river in flood. The entire area upto the far-off road bridge and even beyond was just one sheet of muddy water.Logs were seen floating fast. The trees all round,with half their trunks in water, stood firm like unfolded umbrellas. Far below we saw the floating bodies of horses and cows. The flood all around and the floating objects on water filled our heart with dread.