Hazrat Sulaiman smiled at this warning sounded by the ants' chief...

Hazrat Sulaiman smiled at this warning sounded by the ants' chief, and ordered his companions to wait till the ants went inside their holes. "None of us should hurt any ant while passing over their land", he said. It is said that Hazrat Sulaiman addressed the chief of the Ants and said: "How could my people hurt you or your fellow ants when they are floating through air! Don't you know that I am a messenger of God and would never act unfairly?" The chief of the Ants replied: "O messenger of God!

My cautioning the ants was not for any hurt that they would suffer but to prevent them getting astray and forgetting the glory of God after seeing your pomp and show." There is a deep meaning in this event. It shows that even the most humble and smallest of creatures has been endowed with the necessary wisdom to live safely and avoid being hurt as far as possible. It also shows, how even a small Ant does have the natural understanding of the true position of Allah.

It imparts a lesson that one should not forget the true might and glory of Allah when one experiences a great power and dignity of any creature in this world. Thus an Ant is one of the most wonderful small creatures in this world. Sura 'NAML' (the Ant) in the holy Qur'an is a chapter named after this creature. Over 1300 years ago, Hazrat Ali (A.S.) was giving a sermon in Kufa, in which he was describing the beauties of creation in various forms of life.

He was referring to small creatures and asking man to study how God made them so small yet so sturdy and strong. He described the ant in these words: "Look at an Ant. How tiny is its body and how delicate are its features! It is such a small creature that it often escapes the eye, and few people care to attach any importance to it among the living beings found on this Earth.

Look at it and study its ways of life; How it crawls, how it attacks its food; how it lifts a grain so many times heavier than its body, carries it to its hole; How it stores grains; and how in summer, it gathers and stocks food for winter and rainy days." (Nahjul Balagah sermon 185) Care For The Dumb Animals A man once came to Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W.) carrying with him his belongings and a box. He said, "O Prophet! While I was passing through a jungle, I heard the voice of some Bird's babies.

I took them and put them in this box.