His overwhelming strength and power filled him with such...

His overwhelming strength and power filled him with such pride and conceit that one day, looking towards the heavens, he called out: O Lord! Now arrange to send down Jibraeel so that I can test my strength against him, for on this earth there is none that can stand up against my strength. Before long God afflicted him with weakness and frailty, and in order to crush his vanity, reduced him to such a state of penury that he was forced to live in the ruins of dilapidated houses.

So overcome was he with weakness that one day when he placed his head upon a brick to rest, a mouse darted over his face and began nibbling his toes, but he did not possesses the strength to even pull his legs away from the nibbling rodent. A holy person, who happened to pass by him, observed his state and said: God has made one of his smallest soldiers to become dominant over you in order that you realise your mistake and repent over your conceited behaviour.

God, in addition to being The Patient, is also The Concerned and if you seek forgiveness, He shall surely grant you soundness of health. [^7] The Scholar of Arabic Grammar Once, there was a person who had studied and acquired such immense mastery over Arabic grammar that people referred to him as the ‘scholar of Arabic grammar’. One day he boarded a ship and, since he prided himself on his knowledge of Arabic grammar, turning to the captain of the ship, asked: Have you studied Arabic grammar?

No, replied the captain of the ship. Hearing this, the scholar criticised: Then you have wasted half of your life! This criticism greatly hurt and disturbed the captain, but he kept quiet and did not say anything. The ship continued on its way when suddenly a storm struck as a result of which it found itself caught in the midst of a whirlpool and was on the verge of sinking. Observing this, the captain, who knew how to swim, asked the scholar: Do you know to swim? The scholar replied: No.

Hearing this, the captain remarked: Then your entire life is about to be wasted, for the ship is about to sink and you cannot swim!